Haseeb Ahmed is the winner of the 2nd Earth Water Sky residency programme

The research-based artist Haseeb Ahmed who lives in Brussels is the second winner of the three year Science Gallery Venice "Earth Water Sky" residency programme funded by Martine et Didier Primat Foundation.

The jury were unanimous in awarding it to Haseeb Ahmed due to the originality of his proposal in connection to this year’s topic, wind. His proposal combines sculpture, architecture, performance and film in order to engage and work with both the audience of Science Gallery Venice as well as the people of Venice in a potentially unique, ground-breaking and dynamic artistic process which will also have a digital life.

The jury statement reads: “In this time of great global uncertainty, Haseeb Ahmed’s  process and practice which concentrates on the relations between people, artefacts and nature shows a new way of art-making for the 21st century which engages the mind, body and soul. In addition, at this particular moment  which we are all experiencing, which is currently limiting the normal course of cultural activities, Haseeb showed the most imaginative way of beginning the residency, even if there is the possibility of not being present.”

Professor Michele Bugliesi, Rector of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Science Gallery Venice’s Director Neal Hartman, agree in assessing the EWS residency programme as perfectly in line with the three core values of Science Gallery Venice: sustainability, accessibility and inclusiveness.
“Haseeb Ahmed's proposal crucially matches our mission of inclusivity by emphasising the importance of different sectors of our society collaborating and working together”, states Neal Hartman, “moreover, it fits with our environmental commitment and goal to propose activities which are accessible to all.”
The Rector Michele Bugliesi adds that “the artist selection by the jury shows the pioneering spirit of Science Gallery Venice and Ca’ Foscari University, as well as their active and creative engagement in the most crucial global challenges.”

Haseeb Ahmed will carry out his residency working as his environmental science partner Prof. Craig Martin, the historian of science and philosophy, who works at Ca Foscari University of Venice. Prof. Martin is writing a global history of the science and philosophy of the wind. The dates and style/mode of the residency will be confirmed later this year.

This choice is fully aligned with the ethics of the funder of the residency, the Didier and Martine Primat's Foundation, whose mandate is to “empower scientists, philosophers and artists to advocate for a more conscious and sustainable way of life.”

There were nearly 160 entrants for the second Science Gallery Venice Earth Water Sky open call from 43 countries around the world.

For more about Haseeb Ahmed’s work please see his website www.haseebahmed.com  

The 2020 Jury was comprised of (in alphabetical order): Neal Hartman Director of Science Gallery Venice; Ariane Koek Creative Producer/Curator of Earth Water Sky environmental arts and science residency programme; Andrea Lerda curator of the Mountain Museum, Turin and founder of Platform Green; and the historian of science, Prof. Craig Martin, Ca Foscari University of Venice, and the Martine et Didier Primat Foundation who were represented by Director Florence Rossetti and collection manager Audrey Zecchin.