The Sanctuary of Water was conceived by artist Tomás Saraceno, following a direct request by the Indigenous Communities of Salinas Grandes, northern Argentina, for a permanent sculpture to facilitate community-based rural tourism.
Codeveloped with the support of the Aerocene Foundation, Studio Tomás Saraceno, Haus der Kunst München and the eleven indigenous communities of Red Atacama, Salinas Grandes: Comunidad de Cerro Negro, Comunidad de Rangel, Comunidad de San José de Esquina Blanca, Comunidad de Incahuasi, Comunidad de Matancillas, Comunidad de Linka Antai Corralitos, Comunidad de Cobres, Comunidad de Esquina de Guardia, Comunidad de Raíces Andinas, Comunidad de Tipan, and Comunidad de Casa Colorada.
The Sanctuary of Water is presented on the occasion of the exhibition Ancestral Futures, Haus der Kunst München, 17 July 2026 – 7 February 2027, curated by Sarah Johanna Theuer and Andrea Lissoni.
Red Atacama — Current Community Presidents
Vanesa Soledad Sarapura, Soledad Elizabeth Geronimo, Vacazur Cayetano Gustavo, Calizaya Flavio, Carmen Rosa Torres, Rosalia Hilda Arjona, Lino Alfredo Casimiro, Ricardo Romualdo Fabián, Dario Sergio Martinez, Julián Virgilio Calpanchay
CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING AND SURVEY TEAM
Head of Production and Coordination
Manuela Mazure Azcona
Head of Management and Outreach
Lars Behrendt
Coordination and construction management
Azucena Natalia Flores, Juan Alberto Fiocchetta, Mario Javier Ponce, Mariana Lumi, Laura Lumi, Federico Borghini
Leading Architect
Thomas Charil
Contributing Architects, Design and Visualisation
Niki Sidirourgou, Elif Akman, Sofía Úbeda, Claudia Meléndez Rivera, Alberto Vallejo Puntero, Georgi Kazlachev, Fay Ntakoula
Managerial Assistance
Anna-Sophie Schmidt, Ilka Tödt, Gustavo Alonso Serafin, Judith Straßenberger
Engineering
Oriane Guidet and Klaas De Rycke, with the team at Bollinger + Grohmann
Construction
Aurelio Abalos, Silverio Pablo Mamani, Luzco Vicente Samuel, Aurelio Flores, Liborio Flores, Lamas Franco Alejandro, Santos Colque, Samuel Ceferino Alancay, Javier Ismael Calpanchay, Torres Patricio Olver, Carlos Benedicto Ezequiel Gerónimo, Vacazur Adolfo Ale, Franco Alejandro Lamas, Vicente Samuel Luzco, Patricio Olver Torres, Mariano Vacazur, Enzo Alancay
Machine Operators
Matías Esquibel, Demetrio Vásquez Santos, Santiago Flores, Fernando Álvaro Exequiel Esquibel, Carlos Rubén Soriano, Mario Ezequiel Vitián, Ignacio Aldo René Esquibel, Esteban Marcelino Alfaro, Vicente Alancay, Silvio Soriano, Omar Ismael Sorian, Esteban Marcelino Alfaro
Night guards
Santiago Flores, Sergio Javier Martínez, Albaro Paulo Vacazur, Pedro Ariel Alancay
Additional construction support
Héctor Cruz, Don López
Topographer
Santos Raul Condori
Geologists
Paula Sosa, Joaquín García, Jorge Marcusi, and support of Joaquín Ezcurra
Cartography
Joaquín Ezcurra
Audiovisuals
Álvaro Simón Padrós
Audiovisual Assistance
Dalmiro Zabala and Ramiro Caporin, Ivar Velásquez
Equipment & Machinery Support
Coripa, AGV Servicios, Matías Esquivel, SORY SRL, Hermanos Alfaro
RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION
Institutional Development Strategies
Gastón Chillier
Legal Advisors
Miguel Casimiro, Alicia “Lali” Chalabe, Emilia Romero, Mariela Mortenssen, Jakob Braeuer
Community-Based Sustainable Tourism Strategy
Luis Piri Macagno
Outreach
Oscar Soria, Verónica Odriozola
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
Telma Zerda, Mónica Pasculli, Luciana Torres, Cristina Serapio, Sebastián Abeledo
Research & Consultation
Agustina Roca, Alicia “Lali” Chalabe, Gastón Chillier, Antonia Alampi, Graciela Speranza, Yasmil Raymond, Verónica Chávez, Mariela Nagle, Andrei Fernández, Celeste Vallero, Iván Arjona Acoria, Miguel Casimiro, Maristella Svampa, Luisa Casimiro, Mirta Salomé Puca, Rumualdo Fabián, Alfredo Casimiro, Tomás Vilca, Juan Carmelo Ramírez Rodríguez, Robert Maizares, Calixto Flores, Jimena Cruz Mamani, Crisóstomo Esquivel, Eusebia Esquivel, Ismael Saire Callpanchay, Diego Condori and Freddy Tarcaya Gallardo
Communication and Research Assistance
Max Parnell, Ollie George
Website Design
Ollie George, Studio Tomás Saraceno
Website Assistance
Gastón Chillier, Oscar Soria, Verónica Odriozola, Joaquín Ezcurra
Video and Photography Assistance
Dario Jacopo Laganà, Martina Trebino
Technical Visualisation Assistance
Simon Rearte
Friends of the Sanctuary of Water
Horacio Ruiz, Paola Salaberri, Claudia Lamas, Nikole Naylor, Pía Marchegiani and Vanina Corral from FARN, Macarena Albarracín, Santiago Escarrá, Iber Sarapura, Ariel de la Cruz Lamas, Fernan Goldin, Maya Mercer, Verónica Mercer, Barbara Göbel, Fabio Bassan, Nils and Lars Diederichsen of the Instituto MEIO, Maximiliano Laina, Hernán Vilchez, Paolo Falcone, Inés Katzenstein, Alejandro Coripa, Matias Duarte, Rodrigo Sola, Diego Morales, Jose Luis Bustamante.
Studio Tomás Saraceno team
Head of Management: Lars Behrendt. Head of Production: Manuela Mazure Azcona. Head of Architecture: Claudia Meléndez Rivera. Managerial Assistance: Anna-Sophie Schmidt, Ilka Tödt. Architecture: Niki Sidirourgou, Elif Akman, Georgi Kazlachev, Sofía Úbeda, Fay Ntakoula. Gallery Liaison and Archivist: Gustavo Alonso Serafin. Research and Communication: Sarah Kisner, Max Parnell, Ollie George. Photography: Dario Jacopo Laganà, John Rohrer. Production: Giulia Ambrosini, Duncan Anderson, Mateo Argerich, Sascha Boldt, Ben Clark, Filippo Corato, Isabel de Andres Velasco, Guilain Delanoue, Hermanus Du Plessis, Charles Gonzalez, Samantha Grob, Paula Guajardo, Pablo Manrique, Olivia Moore, Alan Javier Myers, Lea Nikou, Tania Patritti, Martina Pelacchi, Alfredo Ramos, Matthew Raven, Javier Rosenberg, Selma Roussel, Jazmin Schenone, Erik Vogler, Filippo Vogliazzo, Philipp Weber, Davide Zucco. Finances: Judith Straßenberger, Carola Dietrich, Mia Sophie Striffler. Registrar: Miriam Aller Rodriguez. Facility Management: Maria Cristina Crespo, Sven Hoffmann, Manuel Ortuzar, Carlos Alberto Lermett De La Torre, Dmytro Demchenko, Kamila Antonia Govorcin De La Fuente, Valentina Praus. I.T.: Jaime Norambuena. Arachnophilia Team: Patrick Reddy, Leonardo Ariel Baiczman.
To all Aerocene members, with special thanks to
Melisa Argento, the Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN), Claudia Aboaf, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, María Laura Castillo Díaz, Marina Otero Verzier, Godofredo Pereira, Janine Randerson, Pedro Uc Be, Enrique Viale, and the collective Pacto Ecosocial e Intercultural del Sur, Manuela Mazure Azcona, Mai Lumi Azcona, Laura Lumi Azcona, Alicia de Arteaga, Eduardo Marengo, Gabriela Urtiaga, Sven Steudte, Centro Cultural Kirchner / Sistema Federal de Medios y Contenidos Públicos / Argentina, DaeHyung Lee, Veronica Fiorito, Natividad Vilte, Rubén Chino Galián, Leticia Noemi Marques, Carlos Niebuhr and Igor Mikloušić, María Cohen, Gastón Solnicki, Julia Solomonoff, Christian Just Linde, Bruno Fornillo, Colectivo de Acción por la Justicia Ecosocial, Colectivo Mirá and the Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas, Alberto Pesavento, Till Hergenhahn, Christiana Rekada, Eric and Caroline Freymond, Lizzie Carey-Thomas, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Boris Groys, Bronisław Szerszyński, Derek McCormack, Kiel Moe, Nicholas Shapiro, Liz Barry and Public Lab, Oliver Morton, Olivier Michelon, Pierre Chabard, Sanford Kwinter, Sasha Engelmann and Jol Thomson, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre for Art, Science and Technology – CAST and Leila Wheatley Kinney, and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department – EAPS, Ludovica Illari, Glenn Flierl and Bill McKenna, Ute Meta Bauer, Joseph Grima, Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, Lea Zeberli, Pep Julià, Carlo Antonelli, Josep María Llaidó, Rob La Frenais, Cedric Carlès, Ewen Chardonnet, Markus Reymann, TBA21 Academy, Caroline Eggel and Christiane Rekade, Juan and Patricia Vergez, Frederik Jacobi, Barbara Bulc, EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc, Sir Brian Hoskins, Alessandro Coco
Galleries
neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; Pinksummer Contemporary Art, Genova; Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen; Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte, Buenos Aires
To all the individuals and institutions who have supported this artwork
Lisl Schöpflin, Hans Schöpflin, Fondazione Candido Speroni e Carla Fendi Speroni, Francesca von Habsburg / TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Garance Primat, Fabio Gandolfini, Teiger Foundation, Brainlab, Goethe Institut, Agustina Strüngman / Salta Art
To my family
Antonia Alampi, Matilda, and Emi Lou
Alícia Andersen, Mariana, Martín, Michele, Sílvia, and Inés Saraceno
