Agua Circular

Circular Water

Exhibition Exposición

Andrés Agudelo Ganem

31.01 — 22.02.2025

Curatorship/Comisariado: Daniela Penna Nocchi

Fundación La Posta – Valencia – Spain

Photography, Drawings, Sculpture and Video

Fundación La Posta – Laboratorio de investigación de la imagen, presents the artistic project by Andrés Agudelo Ganem, winner of the call ‘El riego en la ciudad’ 2024 for 2025.

This artistic proposal explores the traditional forms of irrigation in the orchard and its water infrastructures, immersing itself in the territory to capture and translate observed phenomena into an artistic intervention.

The idea is that traditional methods, such as the system of ditches and irrigation channels, can be reinterpreted and implemented in the urban context, based on their materiality and specific components. The idea is to highlight, abstract and reinterpret the technical, aesthetic and conceptual richness of these hydraulic elements.

The installation encourages the public to reflect on the interaction between hydraulic infrastructures and the natural and urban landscape, promoting awareness of the importance of these elements in the environmental and cultural context.


Irrigation systems and their narrative

The transformation of the territory is inherent to human life; to a greater or lesser degree, cultural activity has influenced its environment. Throughout history there have been different ways of approaching this transformation and we have seen how these interventions have been used for control and the exercise of power. It is not only a question of exploiting natural resources, but also of propagating a model of state or a specific ideology.

The Valencian huerta is a clear example of a highly intervened and manipulated territory.


The artificial nature of the Turia riverbed is evident in a large part of its course due to various human modifications. Canalisations and diversions have significantly altered its natural flow, while dams and other hydraulic infrastructures control and distribute its waters. This intensive management has led to the almost total loss of its waters in certain stretches, which are subsequently recovered through a system of irrigation channels, reflecting the complexity of its water management. In its final stretch, what was once a recognisable delta has been transformed into a barely identifiable geometric structure on reaching the Mediterranean. These interventions are evidence not only of the control and use of water resources throughout history, but also of man’s ability to transform and adapt the natural environment to his needs, generating a landscape that combines elements of technical intervention and residual nature.


The water distribution systems along the river are interwoven as a complex network of infrastructures that transcend temporal boundaries. These constructions, some as old as the Arab occupation, form a mosaic ranging from dams and weirs to irrigation ditches, bridges, cultivated fields, factories, mills, ports and roads. Some ancestral structures are still functioning, adapting to recent irrigation and cultivation practices, while others have fallen into disuse, accumulating in time and space.




These constructions go beyond their practical function and are elevated to the category of sculptural elements. They mark the territory in a tangible and artistic way, configuring landscapes within the landscape itself. They are cumulative layers that tell stories of occupation, transformation and evolution, converging into an ensemble that transcends physical dimensions to become a work of art arising from the unique interaction between nature and human creativity.