Anthropocentrism regards human life as superior to other entities including animals, plants, and mineral resources, such that these resources are exploited for the benefit of a small percentage of people. This disposition has been central to the development of colonial projects, neoliberal globalisation and climate change, which in turn have caused extreme violence and destruction across the globe, and even threatened human existence. For the sake of earthly survival, we need to move beyond the framework of the human.

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In order for contemporary culture to address the anthropocentrism of our times, we need more embodied curatorial practices. Attempting to do just that, ‘The Watery Archive’ is a one-day exhibition that takes place on a felucca on the River Nile, rather than in the traditional gallery setting. Since water has been indispensable to the expansion of anthropocentric projects, the exhibition centres around the topic of water and showcases a selection of video works of the same theme. By positioning ourselves on the water while we engage with stories from the deep, the exhibition de-centres the human and gives voice to matter in a way that it is more intensely heard and felt.

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On the exhibition night, we set sail to a curatorial talk and game about thinking of ourselves as a body of water and reflecting on our wateriness. This will be followed by a screening of three films, each introduced by the artists themselves. Diving into Egypt’s waters, is Mai Al Shazly whose film Accumulations, shares stories from The Red Sea and traces the oceanic trade routes between Britain and Egypt during colonial times; Ash Moniz who presents High-jacking Hindsight, an investigation into maritime logistics in Suez Canal; and Marianne Fahmy who teams up with an oceanographer to speculate on a future which anticipates the flooding of the Delta in What Things May Come. The length of the Felucca ride coincides with the total duration of the artworks and the boat will reach the waterfront as the final video is finishing. By being with the watery archive, this exhibition hopes to forge alliances with all watery matter (human and non-human) and place a demand upon humans to account for past anthropocentric actions and reorientate present ones.