River Apprentice
A video-installation that creates a journey through the poetic, sonic, and electromagnetic ecologies of the Manzanares River, from its source in the Sierra de Guadarrama at the foot of the Bola del Mundo—one of Spain’s largest television and radio towers—to its passage through the La China wastewater treatment plant, the oldest one in Spain. The title draws on a phrase attributed to Francisco de Quevedo, who in the 17th century mocked the Manzanares’ meager flow by calling it “a river apprentice”. Here, the apprentice is no longer the river, but rather those of us who are learning to become a river alongside it: an invitation to listen to the Manzanares as a living organism and a subject of rights.
Poem “I Will Be Water!” by Imane Zoubai, translated by Zineb Achoubie.
Field sound recording assistance by Andrés Suárez.
Video stills
