I am the river, the river is me
2024
Acrylic on linen
20 x 30 in, 50.8 x 76.2 cm each (8 canvases)
11 x 15 in, 28 x 38 cm each (3 prints)
1 pot 14 x 12 in, 35.5 x 30cm
River gauge 118 x 6 in, 300 x 15cm
Installation dimensions variable
I am the river, the river is me combines eight paintings on canvas with framed prints, poetry, and found objects. Each painting
portrays rivers from different parts of the globe that are at critical stages of drying and degradation. These include the Solimoes
River from Amazon, Colorado River, Rio Grande River, the Loire River, Zayandeh River and Murray Darling River. With diminished
flows, expanding sandbanks, and a significant loss of volume, they highlight the cascading environmental challenges we face.
Kallat’s title references a Maori phrase that personifies rivers as living beings. It invokes the belief that the wellbeing of the river is
equivalent to the wellbeing of oneself. The loss of rivers impacts not only humans and countless species that rely on these rivers for
survival, but also marks the erasure of the larger histories of global civilization they have witnessed and sustained.
