Las memorias del Rio Aguas
Memories of Rio Aguas

Site specific water justice performance

Keywords: water justice, site-specific performance, community-based, activism, collaborative zine-making

Ideation and project diretion - Carlo Sella
Performers - Arratz, Berenger, Oski, Natalia, Lee, Vlio, Francesco, Niki, Anouk, Rosalie 
Scenography - Vlio Velema

An Arraiga, lab of rooted imagination project
Hosted by - Sunseed Desert Technology
Funded by - Teens4Green EU Funding

Las Memorias del Río Aguas is a site-specific, hiking-based performance I conceived and facilitated with a group of 10 young environmental activists during a 10-day residency in Los Molinos del Río Aguas, the only natural oasis in the province of Almería. The work was created in collaboration with members of Sunseed Desert Technology, an off-grid community committed to sustainable living in one of Europe’s most water-stressed regions. Supported by the EU-funded program Teens4Green and the Germinar-t degrowth arts residency, the project brought together memory practices, collective performance-making, and lived engagement with place. Participants reflected on their positionality as temporary guests in a fragile territory, and on the complexities between water, justice, and ecological collapse. The performance created a poetic and physical search for a drop of water that moves uphill, a symbol of resistance and resilience. Performed during the Festival del Agua, the piece invited local residents, activists, and visitors to join a shared journey through the desert, culminating in a collective ritual of grief and care.