Despite the recent attention that has arisen regarding a brand-new city plan: floating cities on water, any discourse and critical gaze that explore ecological and holistic aspects of floating cities beyond the development, and profit-centric perspective have only just begun to appear. In that regard, it was gratifying to witness that this summer, Het Nieuwe Instituut has opened an exhibition and organized events about water cities, reflecting its imperatives as a part of the water city ‘Rotterdam’.

More than a year ago (summer in 2021), RASL - Rotterdam Arts & Sciences Lab, also as a core education-research institution in Delta, attempted to ignite awareness about living on water, by water, with water, within an educational sphere. They also invited policy makers, educators, art practitioners, and designers, to envision and create a collective future intertwined with water.

The opportunity to take part in the summer studio, “Moving Shorelines and Floating Worlds: Re-imagining Tomorrow’s Water Climate through the Arts and Sciences”, truly revealed a new dimension of societal and ecological imperatives about water. I joined the team inquiring a simple question ‘What is Water?’ which morphed and slipped from conventional perspectives on water, later evolved into the speculative 20-minute performance titled ‘Water Gardener.’ Here I’m sharing the sophisticatedly woven 10-days records of our journey to Water Gardener. In this archive, the raw and truthful path we traversed with the ideas will immerse you in imagining what is like to live on water, and consider the responsibilities we should undertake.