Work no. 2: The Biennial (re)connecting.earth (02) - Beyond Water also shows a photograph taken by Hans Haacke as part of the same installation at the Lange Museum in Krefeld in 1972: Rhine water treatment facility [Rheinwasseraufbereitungsanlage]. Here we can see the water treatment system set up by the artist within the institution, where water from the river was diverted into one of the museum's rooms, where it was purified.

"The purified water was then returned to the water table or to the garden via the goldfish pond through a pipe in the ground. At the time of the exhibition, the town of Krefeld had the reputation of being the biggest "polluter of the Rhine". [...] By presenting the facts of this situation and at the same time offering a miniature model of a solution in the museum, the artistic installation serves to problematise a particular situation to which Haacke draws the public's attention". (Text: Ursula Ströbele, Kunst Natur Politik, ZI Munich 2019/2020; Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach 2020). This work by Hans Haacke particularly embodies the links that can successfully be developed between art and science in the fight to protect water.

▶ Artwork: Rheinwasseraufbereitungsanlage, 1972, Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld

Loan by Ursula Ströbele, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich
▶ Venue: Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman

▶ Scientific collaboration: Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman