Hidrotopias

Hidrotopias exhibition explored the relationship between water, technology and life forms in the Danube Delta.

Ion Puican, 12.09.2026, 14:00

From June 18 to July 9, the Sector 1 Gallery in Bucharest hosted an exhibition entitled “Hidrotopias,” which consisted in interactive installations, sound sculptures and artistic research exploring the interdependencies between water, technology and life forms in the Danube Delta. The project was initiated by the Qolony Association, a non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering connections between art, science and technology. The Danube Delta, located in eastern Romania, is a national reserve designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991, and its story cannot be told through a single narrative – this is the idea behind Hidrotopias, which invited the public to discover this territory from less-explored perspectives. We caught up with Diane Pricop from the Qolony Association before the exhibition and she told us more about the project:

“The Hidrotopias project in fact follows a series of initiatives we have launched in the Danube Delta over the past two years, involving artists Floriana Cândea and Ioana Vreme Moser. Pepa Ivanova, whose work deals with  the Black Sea, also joined in. We chose Sfântu Gheorghe as the site for our artistic residency owing to the village’s location at the intersection of the Danube with the Black Sea, as well as our collaboration with Ștefan Constantinescu from the Geographical Research Station and ecologist Răzvan Crimschi. Hidrotopias goes further, however, connecting to the Danube upstream, crossing the Delta and exploring the Black Sea. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will be inspired to think about their relationship with the environment and its ecosystems, while also discovering new outlooks in the artists’ work.”

The exhibition is based on field research conducted in the village of Sfântu Gheorghe and brings together works by three artists, Floriama Cândea, Pepa Ivanova and Ioana Vreme Moser, which they developed through dialogue with researchers Ștefan Constantinescu and Răzvan Crimschi. By means of interactive installations, sound sculptures and video, “Hidrotopias” reveals both the fragility of the Delta’s ecosystems and their capacity for renewal. Diane Pricop explains how the creative dialogue unfolded:

“The dialogue here took place on several levels. Regarding the conceptual dimension of the artistic projects, conversations with Ștefan Constantinescu were immensely helpful, as was the documentation provided. While the artists approached the residency with their own ideas, the conceptual direction changed somewhat after working on the project. On the experimental side, Răzvan Crimschi supported all practical aspects of the residency, including trips to canals and lakes relevant to the artists. For instance, he assisted Ioana Vreme Moser with the anchoring system for her sculptures and proposed the ideal location for her in situ water-based performance. One of the installations, by Floriama Cândea, is interactive; it focuses on breathing and how the act of breathing shapes the relationship between us and our environment. The public can activate it through three different scenarios. Another is a sound installation by Ioana Vreme Moser, consisting of five glass sculptures that function as sound amplifiers powered by water impurities. The final piece is a static installation by Pepa Ivanova, representing the concept of metabolism through the lens of invasive species inhabiting the Black Sea. Consequently, the visitor’s experience is unique and personal, each may find themselves drawn to a specific experience, a particular story, or even the exhibition as a whole.”

The three works offer complementary perspectives. In Neural Bloom, Floriama Cândea draws inspiration from the Delta’s so-called plaur, floating islands in a state of constant transformation. Pepa Ivanova’s project, Eat that Invasion, takes invasive species and pollution as its starting point, while in Warble Buoys, Ioana Vreme Moser uses water-activated sound sculptures to trace the invisible path of sediments carried by the Danube to the Black Sea. But let’s hear more about the main themes of the exhibition:

“The themes are linked by the idea of territory, in this case the Danube, the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. Another link is the concept of ecosystems: the external elements that enter these systems and the way they influence the surrounding environment. The message conveyed by the works is that we, as humans, play a role in this cycle, and that our perception of ecosystems can impact them. Through fieldwork, I discovered that these ecosystems are fragile, even though they possess extraordinary powers of regeneration and resilience. Human activity has significantly altered the area’s morphology and hydrology. Various forms of pollution continue to have a massive environmental impact. Yet, nature metabolizes these changes. We cannot speak of a state of equilibrium here, but nature absorbs them and, over time, integrates them into its own course.”

Diane Pricop from the Qolony Association talks about the future of the “Hydrotopias” project:

“Each artistic project as part of Hydrotopias was the result of extensive research, and this approach will continue. Our goal is to provide a framework for creativity and collaboration with researchers.”