Museum Ship

Song of Water

"Song of Water " is an exhibition that pays tribute to the ocean, to the memory of the life it harbors, and to the diversity of the creatures that inhabit it. Song of Water draws inspiration from the evocative power of this vast soundscape, where every species, every current, and every breath come together to form a single song of life. Structured as a journey, the exhibition invites visitors not so much to contemplate the oceans as to listen to them, immersing them beneath the waves in a world where art and science converge.​

A SONG OF LIFE​

The oceans are the cradle of life. Shaped by hundreds of millions of years of evolution, they are home to a world of incredible richness, from organisms invisible to the naked eye to creatures of the deep. All of them tell the same story—an ancient and ongoing one—that has always inspired both science and the imagination of artists.​​

Song of Water invites us to rediscover this memory by diving beneath the waves. There we encounter fish—from fossilized specimens to works by Picasso or Hiroshi Sugimoto—bearing witness to a history of life that spans the ages; the seashell, which whispers of the origins of life and the slow passage of time; and, at the intersection of art and science, strange worlds from the abyss, where research meets dreams.​​

But the ocean is not just to be seen—it is also to be heard: because sound travels faster and farther in water than in air, every species, every current, every breath contributes to a single song of life. And in the face of ecological upheavals, artists explore both its fragility and its astonishing capacity for regeneration.​​

Throughout this journey, *Song of Water* invites us not so much to contemplate the oceans as to listen to them—not as a distant backdrop, but as a living memory where science and myth intertwine, and where water continues to carry the stories of life and the promises of its metamorphoses.​

Motherboard #19, 2020–2023 © Hicham Berrada, Adagp, Paris, 2026. Photo. Mennour Archives

Max Hooper Schneider, *The Benthos, Part 1: Creatures of Twilight*, 2024, Video: 58 min 3 sec, Courtesy of the artist and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, New York

Collaborations

This exhibition brings together twenty-three international artists—both historical and contemporary—from seventeen countries and five continents, all of whom have found the ocean to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration.​​

Artists featured in the exhibition *Song of Water*: Jean-Marie Appriou, Hicham Berrada, Katinka Bock, Alex Cecchetti, Ernst Haeckel, Taloi Havini, Michael Heizer, Max Hooper Schneider, Nadia Huggins, Joan Jonas, Oyjon Khayrullaeva, Harumi Klossowska de Rola, Robert Longo, Ad Minoliti, Josèfa Ntjam, Jean Painlevé, Pablo Picasso, Laure Prouvost, Emilija Škarnulytė, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lara Tabet, Charwei Tsai, Anicka Yi.​​

‍“Song of Water” is also the result of collaborations with major institutions. The National Museum of Natural History in Paris is lending eight sets of paleontological specimens for the occasion—dating back several million years—some of which are being unveiled to the public for the very first time.​​

The Natural History Museum of Le Havre, which houses original plates by Ernst Haeckel, is lending five of its prints, in which the scientist’s precision blends with the beauty of the artwork.​​

Finally, the TBA21 – Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation is partnering with the exhibition by lending works and collaborating on productions designed specifically for the ship.​

Blanche de Lestrange

The curator of the exhibition

Blanche de Lestrange has been the Artistic Director of the Art Explora Foundation since 2020. She sets the broad artistic direction for the foundation’s various projects and oversees, in particular, the programming for the Art Explora Festival in the Mediterranean, artist residencies in France at the Cité internationale des arts and their international expansion, as well as the inaugural exhibition at Hangar Y. She previously served as deputy director of FIAC, where she was responsible for artistic programming for ten years. Blanche is also the co-founder of the association Thanks for Nothing, which builds bridges between the art world and the nonprofit sector.

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