In Fall 2024, Ludmila Christeseva joined the Intercult: Turning the Tide (TTT) artist residency program with the Jätterena Mälaren project. She followed the important work of local divers cleaning the lakes and explored the impact of environmental contamination on Mälaren, one of Sweden’s most vital sources of drinking water.
The situation in Mälaren reflects global water pollution issues. Studies have shown the pervasive effects of microplastics on marine life, with disturbing reports of these plastics now detected in human bodies—even in developing fetuses. By 2050, it is projected there could be more plastic than fish in our oceans. In light of this, Christeseva confronts a critical question: How do we unite communities to combat this escalating crisis through creative and cultural practices?
Christeseva is now actively working on a short conceptual video documenting the essential, yet often invisible, labor of divers as they retrieve hazardous waste—including lead-filled car batteries—from Mälaren. By showcasing their efforts, the artist invites viewers to participate in an important discussion around a symbolic “fish soup” made from waste collected in the lake. This “soup” embodies the pollutants and threats that our waterways face, urging us to reflect on the costs of inaction and the toxic consequences spilling over into our food chain, health, and future.
Would you like to foster a communal awareness of our shared responsibility in protecting our water and environment? Here is the Recipe for Future Fish Soup—a concept for reflection and dialogue—designed to inspire collective action and open the conversation about the future of our planet. Share it with others to help build awareness and inspire change.
Ingredients:
- 1 plastic bottle – a stubborn relic of our times, floating pollution that can linger for 450 years.
- 1 handful of microplastics – invisible yet omnipresent, found in every drop from lake to sea.
- 1 discarded fishing net – a ghostly trap for marine life, choking once-thriving ecosystems.
- 2 rusted metal objects – with a seasoning of toxins that slowly seep into the water cycle.
- 1 liter of cloudy, polluted water – water that sustains us, yet now tainted with contamination.
- Optional (for a bitter taste): 1 car battery (lead-filled) – a hazardous vestige leaking poison into the water.