The The River: Riachuelo (2024)

The River: Riachuelo (2024)

A sensorial experience on board a cleaning barge, navigating the Richuelo, once the most polluted river in South America. This performance was part of Buenos Aires International Festival (FIBA) and took place on the 20th anniversary of the “Mendoza trial”, when several civil society organisations won a libel against national, federal and municipal government, forcing them to take action to recuperate the river. This was the first collaboration between Clément and Ana Laura López de la Torre, in which a shared interest in water, brought together our different research and production strategies. The script for the audio piece incorporated references to the social and environmental history of the Riachuelo, entwined with commissioned music and a poetic narrative about time, death and love against the background of the anthropocene. The research process included interviews with local artists and activists, collaboration with a local theatre company and the involvement of public services responsible for maintenance and cleaning of the Riachuelo. The piece was divided in two acts, the first one happened on land, and the second navigating a circular path on the river, closing with a collective ritual involving water taken from the river