10-Mile Creek, Rensselaerville, NY, USA, Kathrene Tiffany, Charlotte Riggs, Will Keyser, Nick Powley, and a dog named Ceasar ♡ may he rest in peace.

 

"Being a new transplant to Oregon from dry New Mexico I was immediately drawn to all the water that surrounds Portland. Water seems to be flowing from every pore of this city. There are bubbling public water fountains on sidewalks and in parks and numerous waterfalls, creeks, lakes, and rivers. It is obvious that Portland was built and runs on water. My public water supply is even a local river, it is untreated and tastes wonderful.

The closest water source to my house is the Willamette RIver and it is the heart of Portland. It flows through the middle of the city under a multitude of bridges that keep the city connected. It is Oregon's largest river and, by volume, is the 13th largest river in the US. One of the things that makes it unique is that it flows south to north where it meets and joins forces with the mighty Columbia River.

When I began to explore Portland I was immediately struck by how close water was and how it surrounded the city. It seemed easily accessible, but as I tried to get close I realized that the waters edge seemed to be guarded by industry. For a town that was built on timber it made sense that everything would radiate from the waters edge, but I assumed that you would have a multitude of access points. Don't get me wrong there are parks and areas that you can get to the water but they seem smaller, fewer and far between than I would have thought.

I was elated upon finding the closest park that allowed river side access but that moment faded quickly as I saw the signs warning of toxic fish and heavy pollution. This section of river that is closest to my home and my new stomping grounds is know as the Portland Harbor. In doing a bit of research I quickly learned that this particular area of river is a designated Superfund cleanup site and has been horribly mistreated. A wide variety of pollutants such as raw sewage, heavy metals and pesticides had been poured into this 12 mile section of the river for quite sometime. I have hope that the EPA, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the local industries that are responsible for the river will fulfill its cleanup promise, which is currently in the works.

I do still love being near the water and thrive on seeing the associated wildlife, but can't help but feel sad for the health of this wonderful landscape that I call home." -- Artist, Jenna Gersbach, aka MyHungryEye; Website and Blog 

This cloth was dipped into Mustijoki which is a small river in the southern Finland, flowing between the city of Helsinki and town of Porvoo. I took my 7-year-old son with me to do the dipping, he has just started 1st grade. It was a beautiful day, the rapids were almost dry. -- Annika

Photographer Annika Ruohonen, read her "One of World's Rivers" essay and see more beautiful photography on her website. 

 

"I don't know how to describe the water. It was all quite moving. Something about a white cloth floating is so uniting and liberating at once." Annie Syed

Learn more about the Vltava River and read about Annie's experience in her Still Sundays post.

Photography by Jan Pohribný  

 

The stretch of the Rio Paraíba do Sul chosen to wet the fabric is located in the city of Aparecida - SP where was found  the image of Our Lady of Aparecida. Please read the beautiful and exciting story of faith, devotion, love, miracles here. 

"Através das belas imagens para o World Rivers Project…o Rio Paraíba do Sul pede que o Salvem!  
Through the beautiful images for the World Rivers Project  .. The Paraíba do Sul River cries for help." - Lizzie    

"The basin of the Paraíba do Sul River is located in southeastern Brazil. It has a total area of 55400 km ². Includes territories of the states of São Paulo (13500 km ²), Rio de Janeiro (21000 km ²), Minas Gerais (20900 km ²), and it is characterized by having a biome formed by the Atlantic Forest. It is inserted in the hydrographic region of the southeast Atlantic.
Unfortunately, the beauty of the photos shows no the serious problems that along the times reached the river. It is an almost entirely man-made area, with the original Atlantic Forest restricted only to parks and forest reserves.

The river itself has its course marked by a succession of dams, for the provision of water and electricity for the population of the basin and also for the Metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The river is now in critical ecological status, with the silted edges and 40% of its flow diverted to the Guandu River. Its waters are also used for manufacturing supply and industrial waste that effects the preservation of the fauna and flora. Several accidents affect navigation in the Paraíba do Sul: heels, rapids, stretches of steep slopes, as well as works made with no plans for hydroelectric transposition levels. Other factors impeding are the existence of a significant number of road and railway bridges, proximity to highways and railroads along the river and the location of various cities along its banks. Currently, only two stretches of the Paraiba do Sul can be browsed: the upper middle and lower.

The Paraíba do Sul River currently receives runoff from most of the municipalities through which it passes. A recent study developed by the University of Taubaté (UNITAU) revealed that the river has a high level of pollutants. The results indicated the presence of such as heavy metals (mainly aluminum and iron), insecticides and herbicides, substances harmful to the ecosystem and the loss of biological diversity in river. In humans and aquatic organisms, through the magnification trophic, may cause pathologies, genetic damage, and even in cases of cancer. 
Among the pollutants, such as industrial waste, extractive, livestock and agriculture, there is the damage caused by mineral extraction of sand, which changes the course of the river, drops its riparian forests as well as causing a lower water flow (the problem of flooding), which complicates the recovery of the river throughout its course, however, studies indicate as the problem more troubling are the urban garbage and waste.  (references: wikipedia)     

It was very interesting to note that despite the pollution and despite the tissue had been in water for a long time, it come back very white and bright as can be seen in the photos, even now, when the fabric is dry, it remains in a pure white. If there is something to do with the hallowed place where it was plunged, we do not know ...although many of who were in the boat was been very impressed with the brightness of white fabric wet in the same location where the image of Our Lady of Aparecida was found. Institutional and religious authorities and environmental groups, attended the event which was widely reported by the photographers and press    

Participated in the Project: Alexandre M. Lourenço, Barbosa Antonio, Marcio de Siqueira, Áurea Barbosa, Bruno Teixeira Santos, Campos, Claudia Lino dos Santos Mantovani, David de Oliveira Coelho, Elizabeth C B Rezende, Ernesto Elache, Evandro Lino dos Santos, Geny Barbosa Prado, Margarida Freitas, Maria Inês Rocha, Maria José Barbosa, Miguel Dutra dos Santos, Sebastião Freitas, Silvio Fazzeri de A. Torres   
Photographers:   Casquinha, Fernando Oliveira Gomes

 

The Dead Sea fills with water flowing from the Jordan River and has no rivers flowing out from it. The sea is considered the world's saltiest body of water.

The first picture is very close to where I dipped the cloth and you can see the Jordan mountains across the Dead Sea. The other pictures are from the Ein Gedi Reserve which is across the road and a bit further down from the Ein Gedi beach where I dipped the cloth. -- Arlene Groner

  The Yampa River flows out of the very high Flat Tops near Steamboat Springs, Colorado and is one of the main tribuaries to the Green River near the border in Utah. This summer the river flowed so fast and so high due to the tremendous snow melt. On June 21, 2011 my family drove towards Steamboat via Rabbit Ears Pass and there converged spring bicycle riders and cross country skiers. The snow cover at the pass was complete across the meadows and I mused that I should have brought my snowshoes instead of my hiking boots. Below, in the valley, in Steamboat the snow melt plummeted through Fish Creek Falls and Soda Creek and Elk River--all feeding in the Yampa River which was pounding and overflowing all over the city. Rocks we had picnicked on last summer at Fish Creek Falls (see picture) were now submerged under feet of white water (see picture), and spray from the falls dropped the air temperature by at least 20 degrees when you got down to the raucous stream.
   The Yampa overflowed in many places and the sound of it pounding was relentless and loud. In town the pedestrian tunnel going under the railroad tracks and along the river was flooded to its ceiling (see picture)so people trudged across the tracks and over the crushed chain-linked fence. 
    Tubing and rafting were prohibited and/or restricted because of its speed, and force. Sometimes there was no room to pass under the bridges in a water vessel. We watched in awe and would not dare take my dog off his leash for fear he would join the numerous dogs swept away to their deaths with the force of the rapids. My shirt that we took to the Yampa to soak got jammed into some rocks with a fury, thus the smudges from a river I suspect was very clean from newly melted snow that fell months ago during winter. - Jena and Athena

 

Kathrene Tiffany and Sarah Weatherbee Walker vist the Charles River as the sun sets on the city of Boston. Kathrene works for Artists for Humanity, empoweing and employing Boston teens in an intensive program of arts, creativity and enterprise.

Czerina Salud, Dwight Sora visited family in Seoul, South Korea.  Dwight's uncle Choong Ki Kim, a professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and his Aunt Hae Ja Changis, a nationally renowned calligrapher, are both quite lauded in their respective disciplines.  

"The waters of Korea (in general) is that there have been mass efforts made to reclaim the waterways of Seoul. This article details the extensive work that's gone into the restoration of just one of their waterways - the Cheongye Stream. This stream & the Keum River are tangentially connected because during the reopening of this waterway in 2005 (which had been buried for half a century), part of the opening ceremony involved the pouring of water from all the rivers in the country (including water from the Keum River) into the new waterway.  
I actually took some photos of that stream  and the markets surrounding it. The Cheongye represents one of the largest water reclamation projects I learned about in Seoul. Dwight's mother actually pointed many smaller waterways out to me as we walked through old neighborhoods she used to frequent, explaining to me how many of the small streams I was admiring used to all be open sewers.   The waters of Korea really are an astonishing representation of how much the country has developed since end of the Korean war. Their urban development, public transportation system and economic development far out pace what we have in the U.S. today.   Seoul is an incredible city. If you ever get a chance to visit - you should go." -- Czerina Salud

The cloth is then sent to the studio and embroidered with the name of the river, location, and date and added into the growing World River curtain.

A second class from the Universal American School, 3rd graders with their teacher Ms. Regina. A true jouney on how to overcome situations while staying on track.  The class was not allowed access to local creeks in the city and therefore used the Gulf to conduct the project. Exercises in science, art, and poetry were included. Each child had a square piece of cloth, in the end they stitched them all together and sent it as one panel for the curtain.

Excerpt from the first adventure:
 "Our kids did dip white fabric in the last week! The problem is . . . as you can sometimes have on adventures in other countries! . . . nobody would allow us access to the creek . . . as it seems in this country . . . accessible creek water is allocated to family areas and areas for men only!!!!! Can you believe that?!!! On one trip (and we made several that I and teachers scouted out first) the man standing in front of statues of casper and woody woodpecker . . . told us the entrance was not for children! "

 

Judy Shintani, artist, art facilitator, and collaborator, went on a magical retreat to the San Francisco Zen Center and cut a small square from the lining of her skirt for the ritual of dipping cloth into water.  Live in the nowhere that you came from, even though you have an address here. - Rumi

"Tassajara Creek and its mineral rich hot springs have been a destination for human use for thousands of years, first as a sacred cultural site of the Esselen Indians, later as a historic resort site, and now the locale of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, which carries on the 1,000 year-old tradition of monastic zen training. Threatened central coast steelhead migrate all the way from the Pacific Ocean up the Salinas and Arroyo Seco Rivers to spawn in Tassajara Creek's high quality habitat. The creek also supports one of the few Central Coast populations of the sensitive foothill yellow-legged frog."

 

In Roman times the river was known as Apo, from a Tracian world meaning “water.” It runs alongside the villages of Dupljaja, Grebenac,… before it ends its 60km course through Serbia, emptying into the Danube. Dupljaja is situated in the Banat District, Vojvodina province. I take a photo in the Old river of Karash, at the place so-called Rivache/Rivače, at the date of 19.06.2011, about 11 in the morning Near Dupljaja the archeologist have found the remains of old city, which was the capital and the largest fort of Banat in the 11th century. There are also remains from prehistory and from the Bronze Age (mostly belonging to the Dubovac culture.). Famous archaeological Bronze Age artifact from Dupljaja are so-called “Dupljajska kolica” (“the carts from Dupljaja”) which are about 3.500 years old. -- Artist Dominika Morariu Fotos by: Miodrag Aralica and Dominika Morariu

Artist Martina Anagnostou hand stitches long pieces of light cotton into a Sudanese traditional wrap-around outfit called a toub.  She prepares this wrap to wear as she searches for a place to dip the cloth in The Nile River. Accompanied by her two children, they journey to Tutti Island because it is where the Blue and White Nile meet. See Marina's art project about Sudan and other works on her website.

 

MUNNAR, India
I am here in the lush, tropical landscape of Munnar, an Indian resort town formed by hills and tea plantations, which fall away beyond cerulean mists in the distance. The name Munnar is conjoined from Munu (three) and aaru (river), words taken from Tamil and Malayalam, two overlapping languages heard in this southeastern Idukki district of Kerala state which borders neighboring Karnataka, where Tamil is the predominant language. At an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, Munnar lies at the convergence of three vital waterways, the Muthirappuzha, Nallathanni, and Kundaly rivers. 
 Hours before dipping my mother-in-law’s white veil in a tributary that flows before me, I wave hello to a woman there as she dries her laundry on the surrounding rocks. Perhaps, she is a tea picker, an employee of the tea company; I do not know her nor do I speak her local dialect, but I am glad when she waves back, pausing for a moment to include me in her domestic routine. The hot sun has burnished her skin, and her colored sari—wrapped at the waist and pulled up to her knees—reflects the iridescence of moving water and life’s simpleness.

These waters run crystal clear alongside our rented bungalow that sits amidst the vast Letchmi Tea Estates; about fifteen kilometers away from Munnar’s congested main streets, we are now embraced in silence and deep inside a green valley that appears to dip, rise, and undulate. This place is often referred to as “heaven on earth,” a local guide tells me, and I can see that this is true, although I wonder where all the water goes—how many people touch this water and rely on it for their daily use, after it irrigates the tea plantations day in and day out?

Munnar is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The air is rich, unpolluted, and healing; my body feels cool and light, relieved of anticipation and divined by nature’s essence. As far as the eye can see, tea grows along terraced and patterned hillsides; a grid of pathways allows the pickers to reach every waist-high plant. High on the mountainside fog touches everything, and moisture remains in the air like tears resting on warmed skin. The locals in this plantation are employed by Tata, and they are given land, housing, medical services, and schooling for their children—for this I am glad. I catch their exuberance and questioning eyes. Women are the primary tea pickers here, because of the size of their hands and their ability to snap the twigs with ease. When their bags are full of fresh-picked leaves, they collect their harvest in large gunny sacks at the bottom of each hill, hoist the sacks on their heads, and then proceed to a weighing station by the snaking road. A manager makes a written note of each weighed sack, before workers truck the tea leaves to a processing plant elsewhere in the valley.

Now the sound of flowing water beckons, and, with white veil in hand, I approach the river carefully, as I step on smooth rocks that lead me down a wet slope. The casual ceremony for art’s sake soon begins. I find my stance and lean forward, unfurling the long cloth like a flag attached to my hands. Immediately, the veil balloons over the moving water then begins to settle down over it gradually—getting drenched, taken, then lifted meaningfully moments later, a symbol of yet another world river. I spread the cloth on a dry rock and watch it dry.

Photos and Abstract: Cynthia Kerby, Ignatius Aloysius

The Source of the Seine, France's second-longest river (the Loire is the longest), which flows 776 kilometres (482 mi) into the English Channel and located in the Burgundy region of France, Cote d'Or department. 
In the 17th century, rumors of healing powers in the Seine were circulating around Paris. This led to the construction of a grotto dedicated to the Seine Nymph and financed by its residents in the 19th century.
Pictured are Karen Jacobsen, Joseph Vittoz and Lorenzo (chihuahua).

Grant Pound and Friends from Colorado Art Ranch, a nomadic arts organization founded on the belief that the arts are an agent for change, visit the Arkansas River in Salida, Colorado.

On September 28th a group met in Salida, Colorado to begin the planning for an Artposium called WADE IN THE WATER. An Artposium is comprised of presentations, workshops, discussions and sharing. We explore the intersection of art, science and land/human issues. This particular Artposium is about water. WADE IN THE WATER will immerse us in the liquid that surrounds and permeates us, yet is in short supply. The Artposium will address how scientists and artists perceive the nature of water and confront the factors that threaten this most critical resource. To celebrate the beginning of this event we chose to join in the World Rivers project. Eight of us took a piece of white cloth down to the Arkansas River and dipped it in the water. Grand Pound 

Artist Holly Friesen casts long flowing silk into Devils River near her studio and one of the many natural inspirations for her art.

View Holly's beautiful paintings of trees, many along side precious waterways, anchored on rocks, or with exposed roots.