The River

The Magdalena River in Colombia was recently given rights as a legal subject. Although this change is important, it is still difficult to think of actions to preserve Colombian rivers, which have been immersed in the country's conflicts for so long. All of Colombia's blood and life has flown through the Magdalena River which always played a fundamental role in all cultural, economic, and political aspects of the country. "The River”—a video work by Juan Cortés and Atractor Studio—assumes non-human perspec-tive on the rivers. "During our work we always thought of a river that saw itself, a timeless journey through all its flows that are also our history,” said Juan Cortés. Like an Uroboros, a river is both an origin and a destination where past, present, and future are intertwined. In the river, we see a reflection of a history parallel to ours where relations are both calm and turbulent, symbiotic and parasitic. Rivers regulate the dynamics of biological relations, connecting territories and dividing them, transporting in their rapid flows microorganisms, minerals, seeds, insects, animals, stories, and cultures. "The River" is a project in which Atractor Studio puts to use digital tools in order to find another model of relationship between humans and a river, where river tell its own story reflecting our his-tory and our present.