Be the river – Action for the river Tiber Rights

On 14 May, as part of the exhibition I Fiumi del Mondo a Piazza Tevere (Rivers of the World in Piazza Tevere) promoted by IPER Festival 2025, artist Andrea Conte (Andreco) presented the performance “Be the River – Action for the rights of the Tiber River”, created in collaboration with Studio Andreco, Climate Art Project, Futurecologies, Tevereterno, A4C – Artsforthecommons, Roma Rafting, Azienda Speciale Palaexpo and IPER Festival.

In ‘Be the River’, the artist Andreco, together with a group of performers, leads a river raid, starting from Scalo De Pinedo in a rafting boat and waving flags depicting sections of the Tiber in the historic centre, before landing at Piazza Tevere. Once ashore, they join other members holding flags depicting the remaining stretches of the river, from Castel Giubileo to its mouth, giving life to a collective performance. Between the arches of Ponte Sisto and the banks of the Tiber, an imaginative ritual takes place to pay a symbolic and political tribute to the river, understood as a living organism, a legal entity and an archive of collective memories. The performers become the river and reaffirm their rights: “We are water, we are the river, we are the Tiber crying out for justice”. At the end, some performers climb back onto the dinghy to continue their descent down the river, passing the rapids of the Tiber Island and under the Emilio bridge, known as Ponte Rotto, letting themselves be carried by the current. The initiative invites deep reflection on the relationship between the city, water and the environment, restoring the Tiber to a central role in the urban imagination and in the construction of new ecological alliances.

Video Credit:

1)
The River. ‘We are water, we are the river, we are the Tiber crying out for justice.’
2)
Title
Be the River Tiber
Subtitle
Action for the rights of the Tiber River
3)
Directed by
Andrea Conte (Andreco)
4)
Production team:
Daniele Cimaglia
Luisa Fioravanti
Gianni Russo
Giuseppe Teano
Intern:
Francesco Balestra
5) Performers:
Koni Liliana Venero Escobar
Linda Foster
Stefania Pettinato
Gabriella Polizzi
Francesca Maggi
Silvia Filippi
Kristin Jones
Brooklyn Richardson
Caleb Skene
Francesco Balestra
Luisa Fioravanti
Fabio De Sanctis
6)
Video and editing
Monkey studio lab
7)
Produced with the support of:
Climate Art Project
Studio Andreco
Roma Rafting
Tevereterno
Futurecologies
Iper Festival
Azienda Speciale Palaexpo
8)
Video courtesy:
Andreco Studio,
Climate Art Project,
Iper Festival.