The project Water Portraits by Jana Romanova (RU, 1984) connects the scarcity of drinking water to personal stories and a renewed community spirit. The project resulted in an installation with over a hundred photographs and a book. While images on the walls represent a chain of one litre being reused 10 times, the installation in the glass cabinet gives a larger overview of the entire project, including more water re-usage sequences, recipes for reusing water made by participants, and the inspiration for the project.

Water Portraits is a story about our attempts to be mindful of using water and caring for those coming after us, told through the documentation of 101 ice sculptures. This project is a three-year-long journey in which multiple participants were invited to reuse a litre of fresh water sequentially. After each reuse, the remaining water was frozen and documented. This image received the name of the most recent participant and became their metaphorical portrait. This cycle persisted until the initial litre was exhausted and a new chain began. The process that involved over a hundred participants of the project became a metaphor for how we treat water, how we think or do not think of others coming next, the passage of time, and the notion of temporary ownership of resources — told through the journey of one litre of fresh water. Water Portraits is created with the support of the MIAP foundation, Stroom Den Haag, and Mondriaan Fund. It’s the only artwork in the exhibition not presented in the VU ART SCIENCE gallery itself, but in the art display cabinets in the main building of VU Amsterdam.