Water with Water [W/W/W] is an experimental publishing project based in Doha, Qatar. W/W/W produces work in the form of unique printed books, ephemera, merchandise, and apparel.
COLLECTORS / DISTRIBUTORS / SUPPORTERS /
COLLECTORS / DISTRIBUTORS / SUPPORTERS /
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS /
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS /
What is Water with Water?
Water with Water is an experimental publishing project and visual research studio. We create limited-edition books, ephemera, and apparel that remix vernacular aesthetics and historical references into bold, layered visuals. Our work moves between the Gulf and global artist book scenes, blending graphic experimentation with cultural storytelling.
Who is water with water?
Who is Water With Water?
Water with Water (W/W/W) is a visual research project founded by Nathan Ross Davis in 2015 with the help of Sarah Elawad. After years of creative experimentation, W/W/W has evolved into a fully grown intercontinental powerhouse—producing everything from excellent to questionably excellent psychedelic visual speculations.
Who is Water With Water?
Nathan is an Associate Professor at VCUarts Qatar, and Sarah is a design educator and artist based in New York. With help from other brilliant collaborators, we make things we want to see in the world. We keep expanding the team as we grow, shift, and learn. Hagar Allam is a regular at the airbrush booth, and Aya Mohamed brings the party and screen printing ambitions. Samah Sulyman remains a pillar of practical productivity and organization. Sherifa Eletrebi pops in and out when she can, and Amira Mohamed is always there on the ready.
More about our tiny team is [here].
What does “Water with Water” mean?
That depends on who you ask. The phrase comes from the Arabic saying "فسّر الماء بالماء," which literally means "to explain water with water." It's often used to describe circular reasoning—talking in circles without really saying anything.
For us, it’s about recursion, reflection, and self-reference. The name loops back on itself, like our work often does. Over the years, this question has sparked all kinds of conversations. We’ve met people worldwide with very different perspectives, and somehow, this simple phrase opens the door to all of them. We like that.
Where does W/W/W get funding?
Many of our activities are funded by VCUarts Qatar's Institute for Creative Research and the Qatar Foundation. Sales of previous editions directly finance some projects and studio activities.
Where are W/W/W projects produced?
We try to produce most of our work where we live—Doha and New York. One of our core goals is to support creative networks and build production capacity in Qatar, while staying connected to communities in New York and beyond.
We do a lot in-house: risograph printing, airbrush, screen printing, heat press vinyl, and various experimental techniques. When materials or tools aren’t available locally, we collaborate with vendors in North America, Europe, and the UK.
We're always looking to connect with skilled printers and community-based publishing projects—so if that’s you, send us a link.
Does W/W/W trade publications?
Sometimes, we give our work to certain individuals and organizations (you know who you are). We also trade with sympathetic publishers who have shared interests. This helps us build a collection of publications we can use internally and with students at VCUarts Qatar as a creative resource. We price our projects reasonably so interested parties (huge fans!!) can take home something meaningful and precious.
Why are W/W/W publications limited edition?
For us, “limited edition” means once something’s made, it won’t be made again. We treat publishing as an art practice—using design tools to create small runs of unique, intentional work.
It’s a personal and creative challenge: we’d rather make many different things than repeat the same thing many times. We don't need to scale up since we're not profit-driven. And honestly, we think scarcity can be a good thing. Physical media should be made with care, in smaller quantities, and with more value for the people who collect or live with it.
Who collects your work?
Individuals and institutions, elderly people, little kids, moms, dads, weirdos, normies and… you? It's never too late to start, of course. For more details about the institutional collections we are in, click here.
Where can I buy W/W/W zines and merch?
We are shipping internationally, so if you are abroad, brace yourself because shipping from Qatar is abnormally expensive. Suppose you’d like to skip the shipping cost. In that case, our work is currently distributed by Printed Matter in New York. Several of our zines are available at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. We had work in the Diriyah Biennale Design Shop in Riyadh. Possible Worlds sells a few things… the Neurotitan bookshop in Berlin may still have a few copies, FullyBooked in the UAE, Salt and Pepper in Tokyo, and Christophe Daviet Thierry in Paris had a few items. We recommend you check out your local artist's bookshop and ask for some W/W/W publications! Tell them to contact us if they have none, and we’ll hook them up.
In Qatar, we now offer a delivery service once a week. Buy it on the website, and we’ll send it as soon as possible. You can also purchase select works at the Qatar Foundation Gift Shop and Studio 7 Msherib.
Find us at one of the artist book fairs to buy from us! We try to attend a few fairs annually. We usually announce where we will be on our Instagram. Be sure to stop by and get some stickers and other cool stuff.
How can I work with you?
We generally work with folks who are interested in our projects and aim to develop their creative practice in a way that fits our activities. We want to help members of our team become better thinkers and producers. There are lots of ways that this can happen. We generally prefer VCUarts Qatar alumni, though other EC alumni could be included if they were a good fit. We often don’t advertise opportunities because we are a tiny art practice with many moving parts. Things change quickly. If you are interested, share a link to your work! We always love to see what people are up to. If we think it's a match, we’ll let you know.