We, the Rivers
The exhibition route
The miracle of springs
We, the rivers, are born in the heart of snow-capped mountains or the depths of forests. But humans long thought we were a gift from capricious deities. When they made their way upstream, they found offshoots, other waterways and, higher up, ever narrower tributaries and streams. Then they looked up at the clouds and finally understood.
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Confluences: when rivers meet each another
We, the rivers, are complex, arborescent systems. We crisscross the Earth like a vast bloodstream whose “veins” beat to the rhythm of the seasons. Thousands of watercourses join up, strengthening our current. They carry sediments along with them, torn from their banks as they pass by and endowing us with our colours.
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The riverbed: an indomitable mass of water
Joined by other watercourses, we, the rivers, continue to grow. We transport thousands of cubic metres of water every second, deepening our beds with ever increasing force, relentlessly altering the landscape. Even though most of us have been canalised and contained by humans, we are still feared and unpredictable.
Read moreDeltas and estuaries : between land and sea
Here, we, the rivers, mix our fresh waters with the salt waters of the seas and our sediments accumulate. Humans settled on these fertile lands. They built ever larger towns as our mouths are crossing points and centres of trade – centres now threatened by human activities and rising sea levels.
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And then?
We, the rivers, finish our journey, unleashing our waters into the ocean waves – waters that carry the memories of our journey across the continents: not just minerals, pebbles and sand, but pollutants and plastic waste too. We are the reflection of the lands we have crossed and the way in which human societies occupy them. The Oceans’, the whole planet’s and consequently your good health depend on ours.
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