Documentary Preview +Conversation: Water Stewardship & Indigenous Knowledge

​Presented as part of Hidden Currencies: Water Justice in the Age of AI. For more information about this event and the exhibition and event series Hidden Currencies visit here.

​What does it mean to truly care for water — not just manage it, but treat it as a living part of our shared world?

​Join us for a 15- minute preview of the upcoming feature documentary (Swiftwater Films) — which follows the historic 2024 removal of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River — the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. The film captures what comes after: salmon returning, habitats healing, and communities reconnecting with a river restored through years of collaboration between tribal nations, government agencies, and conservation partners.

​The screening will be followed by a conversation on water stewardship — how we relate to, protect, and restore freshwater systems at a time of growing climate pressure. Indigenous knowledge and practice will be a central part of that conversation, offering time-tested frameworks for understanding water through reciprocity and long-term responsibility. These perspectives complement and enrich broader efforts in conservation science, policy, and sustainable water management.

​The Klamath restoration stands as a compelling example of what becomes possible when diverse knowledge systems and stakeholders work together — and what that spirit of collaboration might mean for water challenges around the world.

​​Presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco, Hidden Currencies explores water as a living medium whose circulation sustains both life and technological innovation. The series highlights connections between Switzerland’s longstanding commitments to water stewardship, diplomacy, and innovation, and the Bay Area’s role as a global hub for research and technology.

​​​The central exhibition features works by six artists whose practices span photography, sculpture, installation, performance, video, and data art: Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Kristiana Chan 莊礼恩, Céline Ducret, Ana Teresa Fernández, Greg Niemeyer, and Annelia Norris (pue leek la').

​​An adjoining experiential hub features interventions by City Studio (Amy Berk + Chris Treggiari), Ani Moskovyan, Greg Niemeyer, Samuel Wildmann, Tania Claudia Castillo, Candice Mays, and Juana Perfecta. Together, these works invite visitors to reckon with water's hidden presence in everyday life — drawing audiences into direct encounters with the systems, costs, and migrations that water quietly connects.

​Curated by Amy Kisch, Founder of AKArt Advisory and Art+Action, the exhibition unfolds as an immersive experience that extends beyond the gallery through a series of interdisciplinary activations bringing together Swiss and U.S. artists, filmmakers, Indigenous knowledge holders, policymakers, scientists, and climate activists to explore water, climate justice, and imagined futures.

​This event is presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco in collaboration with , , , and , and supported by and EAWAG.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco