DANA Forms, 2025

In October 2024, Valencia experienced an episode of Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos ((DANA), Trough/meteorology) which left a profound mark on several neighbourhoods and towns in the south of the city. Intense rainfall caused severe flooding, power outages and widespread material destruction, resulting in significant damage to homes, workshops, orchards and community spaces, as well as the loss of life and a deep emotional impact on the population.

In the weeks that followed, Pluto—a creative co-working space for artists and artisans—was transformed into an emergency logistics hub, receiving and distributing donations from across Spain to support those affected, many of whom are connected to nearby creative and rural communities.

Thanks to the support of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, Pluto launched an extraordinary grant programme designed to provide space for recovery, support and visibility for three artistic practices affected by the DANA. This is a unique edition, specifically created in response to this climatic and social context.

Alexandra Knie’s studio was severely affected by the DANA, and at Pluto she developed a new body of work centred on the direct experience of the flooding. She revisits the visible traces left by the floodwaters on materials, on some of her remaining works, and on the natural environment, recomposing them into a new aesthetic unity and artistic reality.

Knie’s work was also included in the CCCC Centre del Carme project La huella de la DANA en la práctica artística, which aims to map the affected artists in the region and to publicly share how their artistic practices have evolved in the following the flood.