After the river

Located in the south-east of France, the river La Calavon has dried up beneath the Pont Julien, a Roman stone arch bridge dating to 3 BC. This absence is not merely seasonal but symptomatic of larger climatic shifts. In this work, I employ direct contact with the site—pressing the textures of the parched riverbed onto canvas—as both a method of documentation and a form of embodied witnessing.

By engaging with the physical traces of a vanished river, the work responds to themes central to environmental studies: the materiality of drought, the erasure of ecological memory, and the cultural implications of a rapidly changing climate. The piece invites reflection on how ancient infrastructures, once shaped by and dependent on natural systems, now stand as silent witnesses to their collapse. In doing so, it underscores the urgency of rethinking our relationship with landscape, history, and sustainability in the Anthropocene.