Grants and residencies

Research and art

Aquatic Encounters, experimental publication

Application summary

Aquatic Encounters is an experimental publication that combines artistic and scholarly methods of critical inquiry to open up the concept of hydrofeminism in the contexts of contemporary art practices, ecofeminism and feminist new materialisms. The publication is edited by Anastasia (A) Khodyreva and Elina Suoyrjö and published by Helsinki-based independent art book publisher Rooftop Press. The publication takes its form as a speculative glossary built upon keywords that offer tangible entrances to hydrofeminist thought and its significance as a critical methodology in understanding our currents and possible futures. At this moment of environmental crisis, water is a resource and an all-encompassing matter radically but unequally shared by human and non-human bodies. The publication aims to emphasize capacities and hope of hydrofeminisms to mobilize embodied thinking about water as a body that is in an urgent condition of stress. The publication is based on the collaborative research project Aquatic Encounters: Art and Hydrofeminisms conducted in 2020-2022 by Anastasia (A) Khodyreva and Elina Suoyrjö, funded by Kone Foundation. During the two-year research project, we have aimed to summon, employ and activate knowledges from the fields of contemporary art, hydrofeminisms, ecofeminisms, and feminist new materialist theory to open up the potential to critically think anew about our relations with the watery bodies that we are and that surround us. The publication includes a vast array of intriguing contributions commissioned specifically for the publication from Finnish and international artists, scholars, and writers. The book encompasses the multiplicity of voices gathered during the project’s public and communal reading sessions, and other events organized or visited by Khodyreva and Suoyrjö. A few of the 27 confirmed contributors are Kati Roover, Camille Auer, Taru Elfving, Nina Lykke, Hertta Kiiski, Jeff Diamanti and Fred Carter, and Margarida Mendes.

Aquatic Encounters: a glossary of hydrofeminisms is an experimental publication that combines artistic and scholarly methods of critical inquiry to open the concept of hydrofeminism in the contexts of contemporary art practices, ecofeminism and feminist new materialisms. The publication is edited by Elina Suoyrjö and Anastasia (A) Khodyreva, and published by Helsinki-based independent art book publisher Rooftop Press. The publication takes its form as a speculative glossary built upon keywords that offer tangible entrances to hydrofeminist thought and its significance as a critical methodology in understanding our current and possible futures.

With an edition of 400 copies, the publication has been received beyond expectations, and in practice it is sold out in August 2024. The book was launched officially, with an introductory talk, at Bergen Art Book Fair in April 2024. Approximately 40 % of the edition have been distributed abroad by the publisher and the authors, while 60 % have been sold and distributed in Finland to libraries and individuals.

At the current moment of environmental crisis, water is a resource and an all-encompassing matter radically but unequally shared by human and non-human bodies. The publication emphasizes capacities of hydrofeminist thought to mobilize embodied thinking about water as a body that is in an urgent condition of stress. The publication is based on the collaborative research project Aquatic Encounters: Art and Hydrofeminisms conducted in 2020-2022 by Anastasia (A) Khodyreva and Elina Suoyrjö, funded by Kone Foundation.

The publication includes a vast array of intriguing contributions commissioned specifically for the publication by Finnish and international artists, scholars, and writers. A few of the 35 contributors include Lotta Petronella, Kati Roover, Camille Auer, Taru Elfving, Nina Lykke, Hertta Kiiski, Jeff Diamanti and Fred Carter, Ami Karvonen and Maija Mustonen, Aino Huotari, and Margarida Mendes.

Back to Grants listing