Drumming for Love by Erzë Dinarama Receives Honorary Mention at the S+T+ARTS Prize 2025

The artwork Drumming for Love by artist and researcher Erzë Dinarama, commissioned by OGR Torino as part of the European S+T+ARTS4WaterII residency programme, has received an Honorary Mention at the S+T+ARTS Prize 2025, the prestigious European Commission award dedicated to innovative projects at the intersection of science, technology and the arts.

The recognition highlights an artistic research project that addresses one of the most pressing challenges of our time: the water crisis and the transformations reshaping river ecosystems. Emerging from an investigation into the Po River basin and the consequences of the suspension of the Minimum Ecological Flow requirement in the Piedmont region, Drumming for Love explores drought not merely as a climatic phenomenon, but as a process shaped by infrastructures, monitoring systems, regulatory thresholds, predictive models and governance decisions.

At the heart of the project are aquatic insects, species that are essential to the health of freshwater ecosystems, whose forms of communication, based on vibrations imperceptible to humans, become a means of examining the relationships between the environment, technology and communities. Through a research practice developed in collaboration with researchers, activists, fishers and local organisations, Dinarama weaves together data, field observations and ecological processes in an installation that brings scientific knowledge, artistic research and environmental awareness into dialogue.

In its statement, the jury highlighted the work’s ability to translate an almost invisible environmental dimension into a compelling sensory experience. Through sound, movement and imagery, Drumming for Love creates a space for reflection on shared hydrological futures and forms of coexistence among species in a context of increasing climate uncertainty.

The work was commissioned by OGR Torino as part of the S+T+ARTS 4Water II residency programme, with the support of Alpstream, Orti Generali, Fondazione Santagata, VisoaViso and the European Union’s S+T+ARTS programme.

To learn more about the project and Erzë Dinarama’s research, an episode of OGR Meet the Artist dedicated to the artist and the journey that led to the creation of Drumming for Love is available on the OGR Torino YouTube channel.