The Renaico River Community Water Museum collects old documents, generates new narratives, and carries out a series of activities to defend and care for the river itself.
Over the last 15 years, the Renaico River’s current has weakened considerably, mainly due to excess use of water by area logging companies, as well as private citizens who have dammed it off for irrigation purposes. It has experienced other environmental threats as well.
At one time, the Renaico River was a source of fish, economic sustenance, and stories for human and non-human beings; it continues to be a source of water for them. And at this moment, the community is rising up to defend the river.
The museum was founded in 2016 in the town of Renaico, in Chile’s Araucanía Region. This institution highlights the place of the Renaico River as the community’s cultural and natural heritage; its waters are the patrimony of all persons.* With the creation of the museum’s collection, our hope is to strengthen the affective ties between the inhabitants of the town of Renaico and their river, with all the commitment to its care and defense that those ties should entail.
The Community Water Museum was created on the banks of the Renaico River. The museum’s collection was created by neighborhood associations, youth groups, local artists, and schools.
Once it opened, presentations about it were made at universities, cultural events, and international conferences with other associations focused on the defense of water resources. The museum does not yet have a physical location, but this website offers information about its collections, as well as research on the Renaico River and community-based activities.