Kristina Cranfeld

Memories of Water is a multidisciplinary joint project with a writer, musician and a poet Ashot Danielyan, combining live performance and video installation that explores the collective stories, dreams, and hopes of local communities around the Aral Sea and its rebirth. The video installation is located in Kubla Usturt and Barsa Kelmes, where the landscape has become a barren desert but still profoundly retains its memories of water. Its air and soil, heavily salted, along with ship cemeteries, abandoned factories, and ghostly lighthouses, serve as reminders that there was once a large, vibrant sea teeming with life. Despite the catastrophe, a few residents remain in the fishing town of Kubla Usturt. Each day, they face devastating ecological conditions and struggle to adapt to their new environment. They pass down their collective stories, rituals, and traditions through generations, honouring the memories of water and hoping that one day, the water will return, and the Aral Sea will live again.

Film still © Memories of Water, 2025

Film still, Memories of Water, 2025

Live performance at IFA, Memories of Water, 2025

Live performance at IFA, Memories of Water, 2025