Thirst: In Search of Freshwater – Wellcome Collection’s Deep Dive into Humanity’s Most Precious Natural Resource
London’s Wellcome Collection unveils a powerful new exhibition exploring our fragile and essential relationship with freshwater from ancient civilisations to modern-day climate realities. In a world increasingly defined by scarcity and increased demand, the Wellcome Collection invites visitors to pause and reflect on what it means to thirst. Literally.
Opened on 26 June 2025 during the 2025 London Climate Action Week, Thirst: In Search of Freshwater is a vast, interdisciplinary exhibition tracing humanity’s timeless and complex connection with water, the element that sustains all life yet remains perilously threatened. Running until 1 February 2026, this free exhibition spans cultures, centuries and geographies, asking pressing questions about how we value, manage, regulate and imagine water in a time of crisis.
A Journey Through the States of Water
With over 125 objects on display, from ancient artefacts to newly commissioned works, Thirst takes visitors through five evocative “conditions”: Aridity, Rain, Glaciers, Surface Water and Groundwater. Each section reflects on a different state of water and its profound impact on the health of individuals, communities, and ecosystems.
From the life-giving floods of ancient Mesopotamia to the parched soils of modern drought, the exhibition reveals how access to freshwater has shaped civilisations, inspired innovation, and influenced art, religion, and medicine. Yet, Thirst also confronts the darker side of humanity’s relationship with water, from pollution, conflict and mismanagement to the inequities of access and the devastating consequences of climate change.
Art Meets Science in the Search for Solutions
Alongside historical artefacts, maps and meteorological records, Thirst presents new works by an exceptional group of contemporary artists who explore water through the lenses of identity, politics, and emotion. Featured artists include Gideon Mendel, Chloe Dewe Mathews, Anthony Acciavatti, Susan Schuppli, Adib Dada, M’hammed Kilito, Adam Rouhana, Raqs Media Collective, Karan Shrestha, and Feifei Zhou and Zahirah Suhaimi of SEACoast.
One of the exhibition’s highlights is the inclusion of the Eden in Iraq Wastewater Garden Project, a visionary initiative transforming wastewater treatment into an ecological and cultural restoration effort. Set in Iraq’s historic marshlands, the project embodies the exhibition’s spirit: merging innovation, ecology, and compassion to regenerate both environment and community.
Equally striking is Arab Fluids, a short film blending hydrofeminist theory with ancient irrigation systems, reimagining water as a symbol of resilience, gendered labour, and memory. Through works like these, Thirst captures how art and science converge to tell urgent stories of survival, renewal, and coexistence.
The Thirst Symposium: Water as Conversation
We attended The Thirst Symposium (19–21 September 2025), a weekend of performances, discussions, and workshops held within the exhibition space. The symposium extended the show’s inquiry into lived experience, bringing together artists, activists, researchers, and practitioners to explore how water connects and divides us.
Panel discussions ranged from indigenous water rights to artistic interpretations of drought, while workshops invited participants to listen to the rhythms of water or create art inspired by its movement. The atmosphere was deeply reflective yet energising, grounded in the belief that dialogue and creativity can catalyse change.
A Meditation on Scarcity, Healing and Hope
What makes Thirst remarkable is not only its scope but its tone. It neither preaches nor simplifies. Instead, it invites us to feel, to question, and to imagine. Imagine a world without water. Visitors leave with a heightened awareness of water as both material and metaphor: a force of health, spirituality, and collective identity. In a time when over two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, Thirst is both a warning and a celebration. It honours humanity’s ingenuity while confronting our failures, suggesting that the future of water depends as much on empathy as on technology.
The exhibition reminds us that water is not merely a natural resource but a relationship that our society has with nature. One that demands care, creativity, and courage.
Visit
Thirst: In Search of Freshwater
Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
26 June 2025 – 1 February 2026
Free entry | Open Tuesday–Sunday, 10am–6pm (Thursdays until 8pm)
wellcomecollection.org
