Quatrième état de l'eau, La femme. is an exhibition by Charlotte Qin and Tessel van der Putte, curated by Frédéric Elkaïm and presented by Meeting of Waters from 7 to 20 July 2026. The exhibition draws on water as both element and metaphor — a counter-narrative to climate discourses long centred on control and extraction, repositioning water at the centre of ecological, emotional, and feminine inquiry. At its heart is a porcelain installation inspired by aquatic creatures and the fluid forms of coral and blossom, alongside paintings by both artists that explore the body as a permeable landscape.The title references the "fourth state of water" — a little-known phase between liquid and solid found in cells, healing springs, and the human body. Resisting categorisation, it stands for transformation: the liminal, the relational, the soft-yet-strong.
Atelier I
A guided sensory session held within the exhibition space, led by the artists.
Through breath, movement, and guided imagery, participants are invited on an inner journey that traces the path of water — from glacial source through river delta to open sea. Each stage of the journey corresponds to a different quality of water and of the self: stillness, flow, openness, expansion.
The session draws on the installation as its living backdrop, weaving together the physical presence of the artworks with an embodied exploration of water as metaphor for life cycles, transformation, and kinship. Water teaches us something we often forget: that cycles rarely have a clean beginning or end, that every ending is the start of something new, and that movement — fast or slow, turbulent or still — is always natural.
Atelier II
Un voyage initiatique et artistique au cœur de la puissance créative féminine, animé par Frédéric Elkaïm et les artistes.
À travers une conférence dialoguée en images, l'atelier explore comment les relations entre les femmes et l'eau ont traversé les civilisations — conditionnant des modes d'expression, de résistance et de création. Une méditation guidée accompagnée de chants de femmes en lien avec l'eau, puisés dans différentes traditions, invite ensuite les participants à un temps de concentration et d'évocation intérieure.
À l'issue de ce voyage sensoriel, les participants sont invités à prendre plumes et pinceaux — pour dessiner, tracer, laisser couler des motifs de puissance liquide au féminin. Un temps de création accompagné, ouvert à tous, sans expérience préalable.
