Jumana Emil Abboud – The Water Diviners Trail

Follow the Water Diviners trail to encounter eleven objects carrying stories shaped by water. From toggles, lockets and embroidered threads to a spring-dwelling demoness and an irrigated highway, each connects legends, lives and landscapes across cultures. Selected by artist Jumana Emil Abboud, the objects trace histories seen and unseen. 

Along the way, prompts from the artist invite you to pause, reflect and imagine your own story within this shared watery legacy. Developed during the artist’s Jameel Fellowship research residency at the V&A, the trail uncovers hidden currents of memory, imagination and testimony that run just beneath the surface of everyday life. 

The artist led a Water Diviners workshop at the V&A South Kensington this summer, and the group will collaboratively present a spoken word performance during the LDF Friday Late on 19 September 2025. The story-telling event is inspired by the museum’s objects as well as the Diviners’ own water legacies.

Supported by the V&A’s Jameel Programme and curated by Rachel Dedman.