Water ecosystem, 2019-2022 

mixed media installation

Courtesy the artists & Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima 

The installation Water Ecosystem celebrates the symbolic role of water in Peru’s diverse wetland ecosystems and cultural heritage. Peru’s capital, Lima, is the world’s second largest desert city and experiences seasonal extremes of water scarcity and floods. Ana Barboza and Rafael Freyre take inspiration from ancient canal systems created by pre-Colombian societies for water management which allowed for agriculture, food production and water purification in this environment using natural water treatment technologies. Through these canals water was drawn upstream to provide water security in desert coastal areas such as Lima. 

The woven wetland is made of reed mats created by the Goicochea family of master weavers and the formation is based on the Lurin Wetlands located approximately thirty kilometres south of Lima. The torora and cattail fibres are plants that grow naturally along Peru’s wetlands and purify the water by absorbing organic matter.  

The multisensory installation combines natural elements with traditional and contemporary technologies. Visitors are invited to walk through the wetland to experience this water ecosystem. In a time of population growth and climate change in Peru, Barboza and Freyre advocate for an integrated approach to designing and building with nature by understanding the unique qualities of the ecosystem. 

“We are interested in recovering the relationship with the ecosystems of our territory, understanding their interactions and transformations. Likewise, we seek to create a ritual space with water, to restore its symbolic value within our communities and daily life. Water moves, flows and evaporates, changes constantly, like us. Through it, we can reflect and understand the cycles and transformations that we inhabit.”