Diplomatic Suitcase at Mediamatic Amsterdam

Travelling exhibition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies

After Mar Menor, Berlin, Venice and Lisbon, the Diplomatic Suitcase is now travelling to Amsterdam! The Diplomatic Suitcase is the travelling exhibition of the Confluence of European Water Bodies, our European community with now over 30 grass roots activists, artists & academics representing Europes glaciers, seas, lakes, lagunes and rivers. The Diplomatic Suitcase unpacks into a multimedia installation showing the identities of the participating water bodies. This portable installation tells stories of the many problems European waters are facing, from contamination by agriculture to dam constructions, but also demonstrates how water diplomacy can give rise to an emerging alliance of water.

This exhibition, curated and designed by Jakob Kukula and Leon Lapa Pereira, invites visitors into the emotional and political currents of the Confluence alliance. It offers both a warning and a hopeful vision — one in which European waters, long exploited, begin to reclaim their agency, shaping not only our landscapes but our laws, cultures, and futures.

Confluence of European Water Bodies 2025

The Diplomatic Suitcase exhibition is part of the Confluence of European Water Bodies 2025 in the Netherlands, the third confluencing of over 30 grassgroots interdisciplinary communities all over Europe aimed to explore the cultural, political, and legal representation of water. The programme takes place in Amsterdam and Bergen aan Zee and includes workshops, lectures, films, art installations, performances, concerts, and future strategy sessions. Everyone is warmly invited to attend the programmes at venues including De Balie, the Amstelkerk, Cinebergen Filmtheater and of course Mediamatic. View the full programme here.

We are: Akerselva, Baltic Sea, Deep Sea, Dogger Bank, Drina, Genova waters, Irish Sea & Liffey, Klarälven, Laguna de la Janda, Loire, Maas, Mar Menor, Mediterranean, North Sea, Odra, Os_lo Fjord, Ouse, Pek, Piave, Reuss, Reva, Rhine, Rhône, Snæfellsjökul, Spree, Tara, Tagliamento, Tavignanu, Tejo, Ticino, Vättern, Venice lagoon, Viskan, Vistula, Wattenmeer and Zenne

Commissioned by Embassy of the North Sea, ILP Mar Menor, TBA21–Academy/Ocean Space. Curated and designed by Leon Lapa Pereira (Embassy of the North Sea) & Jakob Kukula (Spree Berlin), co-produced by the Confluence of European Water Bodies

Graphic design: Eva van Bemmelen

With support from Creative Industries Fund NL. Special thanks to the water bodies of Europe