History of water

On the bangs of the Festival Histoire et Cité, and in the wake of Gaïa’s focus on ecologies and the uses of the Earth, we offer you a new selection of documents on water and its many historical variations.

Water, the source of life, nourishes our daily lives and enriches our imaginations.

As we travel down the river of history, we come face to face with the obvious. The domestication of water a few thousand years ago marked a major milestone in the construction of human achievements. From the hanging gardens of Babylon, to ancient aqueducts and Inca irrigation canals, water conveyance systems, to name but a few, have been constantly perfected for our greater comfort.

An element of well-being and leisure, with refreshing, soothing or curative virtues, which we enjoy here and now in profusion, access to water is a constant challenge in other latitudes. Its management bears witness to our successes and failures, and reveals the formidable human capacity for headlong pursuit. But let’s not forget, as Gaia does, that if water can make civilizations, it can also unmake them.

BCUL Unithèque March 27 to April 10