Tali Keren

Artist-in-Residence at ASU Water Institute

Tali Keren is a multidisciplinary artist and educator working across moving image, performance and research-based practice. As the inaugural Artist in Residence at Arizona State University Water Institute, part of Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, she is collaborating with faculty, scientists, and community partners to explore how water infrastructure shapes ecological futures and climate resilience. Her work is grounded in translating complex scientific research and policy debates about water into accessible storytelling and poetic visual languages.

Water/Power+–

At ASU Water Institute, Keren is developing Water/Power, a multi-chapter documentary and installation project that traces how water moves through landscapes, infrastructures, legal systems and imaginaries in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands and globally. The first chapter, Delta/Desal: A Border Ecology, focuses on Colorado River surface water, examining the relationship between the dormant Yuma Desalting Plant in Arizona and the Ciénega de Santa Clara, a 40,000-acre wetland in Mexico’s Colorado River Delta that has become a critical habitat for migratory birds. This first chapter examines how decisions about water allocation and infrastructure reverberate across borders, communities, and ecologies, while the second chapter turns to questions around Greater Phoenix’s growth and groundwater in the Phoenix Active Management Area. The residency puts  emphasis on the research and development phase of artistic work.

Program Sponsorship+–

Keren’s residency has been funded by the Leonardo–ASU Planetary Health Research Seed Grant and the Humanities Institute Seed Grant with the support of Dr. Umpanu Lall. The project is curated by art historian Dr. Chelsea Haines from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and will include exhibitions at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, as well as educational and community-oriented engagements.

Events & Media

Artist Talk: Tali Keren

At the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Tali Keren presented an artist talk on her research-driven practice and shared Delta/Desal: A Border Ecology, a cinematic installation exploring the environmental and political dimensions of desalination and water infrastructure in border regions.

Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson

Water/Power

Showcasing the political, ecological and infrastructural forces shaping water systems, this gallery and portfolio highlights Tali Keren’s Water/Power project through video stills, installations and documentation.

Tali Keren

Critical Currents: Art at the Edge of War and Water

Critical Currents: Art at the Edge of War and Water brings together research‑driven art projects exploring environmental futures and emerging technologies. The event features work from Zeina Barakeh and excerpts from Chelsea Haines’ collaborative project with Tali Keren on water development and speculative infrastructure, including a screening of Water/Power.

ASU Events