The Water Community Museum-Renaico River is an initiative of the Colectivo Social Salvemos el río Renaico (Save the Renaico River Social Collective) and the artist Marcela Moraga. It was founded in 2016, in Renaico a town located in the Araucanía Region, Chile, there crosses a river with the same name. The Collective is a group of young people working since 2013 for the defense of the Renaico River which has been suffering for about twenty years the considerable drop in its flow due, mainly, to the excessive extraction of water by forestry companies located in the area. The monoculture of pine and eucalyptus trees has caused drought, fires, contamination, and loss of biodiversity. For a long time the population was indifferent to this problem for this reason, as a strategy to awaken and strengthen the affective bond that the community had with its river, so that they would commit themselves to its care and defense, the youth collective and the artist decided to found a Community Museum. Through this tool they also wanted to establish that the Renaico is the natural and cultural heritage of the community, and its waters are natural goods common to all people and forms of life. The Museum’s collection was created collectively between the artist and neighborhood associations, youth collectives, local artists and schools through artistic actions, a documentary film, collection of old photographs and others. The Museum does not yet have a physical location; but it has a website, which was developed in 2023 thanks to various contributions of images and texts from the community.
The creation of the Museum was possible thanks to Residencias de Arte Colaborativo (Collaborative Art Residencies) of the Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio (chilean Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage)
Website of the Water Community Museum-Renaico River