A brother and sister visit an outlet on Cape Fear River, in Wilmington, at sunset. There are few outlets that are safe or accessible without a boat. Among the levies a dock was found were the water could be reached.
Artist, Mia Leijonstedt visits the River Cam that runs close to home. Visit her website to see uniquely hand-crafted books and the art of bookmaking. Thoughts that ran through her can be found in this personal blog post.
All photography by the wonderfully talented and inspiring Czech photographer Jan Pohribny. The young women are his American photography students from the Prague Summer Program.
This creek is in his village Unetice which is just outside of Prague. I was amazed to learn that an important historical period and culture, Únětice, is named after this small village. It´s due to the excavations carried out in 1879 by local doctor and amateur archeologist Čeněk Rýzner on Holy Vrch (bare hill) that overlooks Únětice. It was here that he uncovered 56 graves dating from the late bronze age (roughly from 200 to 1500 BC) .
In later years, far bigger and more important sites were discovered in the near locality and elsewhere in Central Bohemia. You can read more here. --
Annie Syed ( Facilitator in reaching this flowing water while in Prague on a writing sabatical and meeting new friends.)
The World Rivers project caught my eye more than a year ago, flashes of white fabric and flowing rivers, people touching rivers with adventure and discovery. -- Sandi Lee @WakingDreamArt, website
I knew I wanted to do that dance with the Skagit, a magnificent river, designated by Congress as one of the "Wild and Scenic River Systems". Starting in Canada, the Skagit River is fed by hundreds of glaciers, flows dramatically from the rugged Cascade Mountains, past ancient forests, cascading past two volcanoes, three dams, dividing into a north and south fork, and wearing different looks as it meanders past towns, tulip farms, and other agriculture in the Skagit delta. Finally, after spreading across sloughs, tideflats and estuaries, the two parts of the river empty into a bay leading to the Salish Sea.(map)
The Skagit, third largest river in the West (The Columbia and Snake are the first two), is part of a rich ecosystem. There is significance in the river home for 5 varieties of native salmon and a variety of intriguing bird life that includes the largest wintering bald eagle population in the continental U.S., and thousands of migrating snow geese and trumpeter swans.
I marvel at the variety of gorgeous river colors of the Skagit. (influenced by location, mineral deposits, lighting, flow, seasons...)
The river flows past an 11,000 year history of Coast Salish tribes like the Swinomish and Skagit, and I imagine the river listening intently to the Lushootseed language then and now.
more on Vi Hilbert, treasured Upper Skagit elder: here
I loved finding out more about how the Skagit River has been home and inspiration for artists of all types. From Jack Kerouac writing about the Skagit in *Dharma Bums*, to Tom Robbins' residency in the Skagit river town of LaConnor, to the artist community of poets and painters in the once-upon-a-time, "Fishtown", the river becomes a partner in creations.
So where to dip the river cloth? I thought I'd like to take the fabric to where I hadn't been before- where this river meets the sea. But during an exquisite day of traipsing around the Skagit basin area, my friend Douglas and I realized that the river was harder to access through private land and sloughs. We didn't have a boat. Just as we were about to give up for the day and driving out, we came upon a spot that was inviting.
The river in this area felt calm, quiet and peaceful. The reflective water was already holding white cloud fabric, but easily welcomed our sinuous cloth as another member of the floating dance of river poetry. We played, floating on possibilities and reveries.
The cloth came back to where I live and I told some of my neighbors about the project. I explained to the neighbor children that the world-rivers project was about taking care with rivers and being creative about it. They were curious and happy to help honor the cloth that held that idea .
I told them to be careful, but it was up to them to decide how they wanted to wear the river regalia; the only rule was to not let the cloth touch the ground. They liked the challenge and had to find a way to work together and move. The children covered themselves with the long fringed fabric, giggled, negotiated, and transformed into a dancing white river dragon. Naturally it was very fun, and fine instruction to grown-ups on how to get something done.
And finally since I didn't send the cloth off right away, I thought it could use a bit of energetic fluffing before mailing. So what better way than an ocean trip, where it flew in the very windy marine air, feeling now like a flying cloud dragon that touched river, ocean and imagination.
It was a good journey, and one that continues. -- Sandi Lee @WakingDreamArt, website
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 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.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! "
"My work has been about the politics of water for several years. I have long been interested in the ways that our imagination interacts with the natural world, a world that is never far from the effects of human intervention. In a series of sculptural drawings, I am exploring the cultural and social history of water and its role in land disputes, the development of agriculture, and the building of empire. I collage digitally printed maps, texts and images to indicate the divisions that human intervention has imposed on the world’s ecology and water supply by the use of dams, canals, and irrigation. The calligraphic elements in ink, in the collages, and in wire, represent our most precious resource and its refusal to be controlled without a fight. Donald Worster’s insightful writings have influenced some of the thinking behind this work and I am deeply grateful to my dear friends, Hugo Vergara and Rosario Parodi, of Havana. When I saw the site for World Rivers I knew I had to do a project. The Herring River estuary ran through a tidal salt marsh and to try to control mosquitoes, the river was diked in the early 20th century. Contrary to expectations, the dike destroyed the salt marsh and the mosquito population grew exponentially. There is a plan to re-open the estuary, but for the time being it is a dream. Bureaucracy, embedded interests, and lack of funds are keeping it from moving ahead. I hope that in our lifetime we will see the salt marsh and estuary restored."
"NOTES: My husband (Jim Campen, the photographer of the events) and I climbed over a low barrier near the dike and wading in to my knees I dipped in a white curtain and it’s tie. That is Location 1 in the photos. Location 2 is further inland, where Old County Road crosses the estuary. There the river is the size of a small brook and goes through a tunnel under the road. I stood on top of the bank and dipped the curtain here as well. At each crossing, the Herring River Estuary Sign is posted as it is at the dike. The dike cuts the river off from Wellfleet Bay, just to the East of Great Island, Wellfleet."
The Herring River estuary in Wellfleet, Massachusetts is being considered for restoration. More than 100 years ago, the 1,200 acre salt marsh system was reduced to 7 acres. Upper reaches of historic Cape Cod tidelands stretch four miles North into the town of Truro. During the past 100 years, the ecological values of the salt marsh have degraded. Upland vegetation began invading the flood plain. Lack of flushing contributed to low levels of dissolved oxygen. Acidic conditions supported mosquitoes and high levels of bacteria. Fish kills and routine closures of adjacent shellfish beds eventually received attention. In August of 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between the town of Wellfleet and the Cape Cod National Seashore, detailed the process for considering restoration.
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."
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.
