In the 1950s, the Rhône River was declared dead. With the development of hydroelectricity, the river changed drastically in post-war France. New canals took over the old river, dikes were built against flooding, the river was slowly dammed in the name of science and technology. Furthermore, with its fast flow and cool temperatures, the Rhône provided an ideal setting for the development of several nuclear power plants and chemical industry sites. The river became a hydraulic object, the boundaries between nature and technology slowly blurred.

The river – once the symbol of an uncontrollable force – had been conquered, but how would the river best describe itself? Inspired by Bruno Latour's The Parliament of Things, in which the philosopher argues that laws and politics should not be centered only around people, but should respond to all things and life forms, Tanja Engelberts examines the Rhône from an animistic point of view. She tries to imagine what it’s like to be a fast-flowing river, slowly filling with Anthropocene-era artifacts over a 600 kilometer stretch. A landscape steeped in chemical waste, that’s slowly disappearing due to climate change.

The river breathes out. Organic materials which fill the water are slowly broken down through chemical processes, creating carbon dioxide (CO2). What sound does a river make when exhaling? Does this sound change as the river is poisoned, distorting and fading from its natural state?

Throughout the summer of 2022, Engelberts followed the river from the Mediterranean to its source in Switzerland, charting its transformations, its journey, and its many voices. Engelberts later collaborated with sound artist Liz Harris to form sensitive soundscapes from ambient noise combined with field recordings. Together, they created a poetic means to reflect on how a poisoned river might possibly exhale.

This project was produced as a commission from FOTODOK (Utrecht, NL) and developed as a site-specific research during the art residency The Shelter (Arles, FR), with support of MIAP foundation and Stroom (The Hague, NL)

We exhale – video
Duration: 19’28” (loop) –
Format: 4K / 16:9
Colour

Credits:
Concept, direction & production: Tanja Engelberts
Camera: Tanja Engelberts
Drone: Jonathan Pierredon
Edit: Rento van Drunen, Tanja Engelberts
Colour grading: Marcel IJzerman
Sound design: Liz Harris
Audio mix: Rafael Anton Irisarri