EARLY RESEARCH + INITIAL IDEA DEVELOPMENT STAGE # 1 WATER & STORYTELLING Role & symbolism of water in the cultural narratives (folktales) of Asia The lessons we didn’t learn from all these folktales / morals of the stories that we didn’t get Water as commodity vs water as a sacred entity / life giving object  — animism Main takeaway: in many, if not all cultures, water features as an animistic concept STAGE # 2 WATER & ANIMISM Oldest known belief system, the belief that natural objects & the universe itself has a soul/spirit Water as a supernatural life force, b/c all material phenomena have agency Teaching us how to behave towards another being, even if they aren’t human —applying animism to the modern day context UN proposal for the rights of Mother Earth (2009) – President of Bolivia called on the general assembly to develop a Universal Declaration of the Rights of