NAIAD: A Splash of Art and Ecology at RIFS

17.10.2025

M. A. Sabine Letz

sabine [dot] letz [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de

The painting by Stephanie Cussans Moran is entitled Fluminea. The native mussel species of Brandenburg and Berlin belong to the Unionidae family.

The foyer of the RIFS Bank Building is currently showcasing a small but striking exhibition. Ten large-format paintings by Stephanie Cussans Moran, created during her fellowship at RIFS in Potsdam, are on display. The works bring to life native freshwater mussels from Brandenburg and Berlin – from the Müggelsee and Heiligen See to the humble Panke stream.

For her project, Moran drew on the Senckenberg Natural History Collection to identify six mussel species that still exist – or once existed – in the region. All belong to the family Unionidae, known as Naiads after the Greek water nymphs believed to protect freshwater habitats. It’s this connection that inspired the exhibition’s title. Moran's work highlights the ecological importance of these mussels, which are classified as key, indicator, and umbrella species. By filtering water and cleaning riverbeds, they help create vital habitats for countless other organisms. Her paintings invite viewers to see the animals up close, from multiple angles, and in the waters where they thrive.

The series sparks conversation about freshwater mussels and their role in the ecosystem. Moran asks: What if mussels weren’t just animals to be protected, but protectors themselves? She even explores the provocative idea of granting them legal personhood – and what that could mean for freshwater policy.

"NAIAD: Mussels in Brandenburg und Berlin" is showing at the RIFS BANk Building, Helmholtzstr. 5, until 29 October 2025.

A selection of the works on display at RIFS

RIFS Fellow Stephanie Cussans Moran with one of her works at the opening of her exhibition NAIAD. In 2022, she was a fellow at the Freshwater Mussel Biodiversity and Conservation Laboratory of John Pfeiffer at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

This painting is titled "Quagga" and depicts an invasive mussel species. With her work, Moran highlights that invasive mussels often receive far more attention than native species because they displace them. Yet mussels are vital for healthy waterways and, overall, are threatened with extinction worldwide.

This painting is named after the nearby Müggelsee lake. Each body of water has been assigned a protective deity, a Naiad, represented as a mussel that could inhabit – or does inhabit – that particular aquatic environment.

Cygnea, the swan mussel. According to Wikipedia (Germany): “The swan mussel occurs in northern and central Europe in the muddy bottoms of clean, still freshwater bodies. Due to increasing water pollution, it is now threatened and, like all other species in the order Unionida, is legally protected, with additional species protection in Germany.”

Fluminea, also known in Germany as the thick‑ribbed basket mussel – as part of this project, six mussel species were identified using the Senckenberg Natural History Collection, all of which either currently occur or have historically occurred in the region.

Berlin's Panke Stream, whose name derives from the Slavic word pankowe, meaning “bubbling river,” stretches for 29 kilometres. It rises in the northern part of Berlin at the Pankeborn, north of Bernau, and flows southwest through the city. As mentioned earlier, each body of water depicted in the paintings is associated with a protective deity represented as a mussel.

Contact

Dr. Stephanie Cussans Moran

Senior Fellow

stephanie [dot] jane [dot] cussans [dot] moran [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de

NAIAD: A Splash of Art and Ecology at RIFS

M. A. Sabine Letz

A selection of the works on display at RIFS

Contact

Dr. Stephanie Cussans Moran

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