Hacemos Nuestro Río

Meet Catalina Pérez Meléndez, our guest from Mexico, who will bring us to the River Papaloapan in Veracruz and will let us create poetry through the impressions of the “River of Butterflies”. 

‘’You cannot feel what a river feels, but you can be there, in that shared place, and feel your own feelings. Catalina Pérez Meléndez replaces the word “other” by “river” in the original text by Juan Rulfo (in Pedro Páramo), to include an empathetic view of the environment and on sharing different forms of communal action.’’

Hacemos nuestro río (We Make Our River) is a picture book and curatorial project from Veracruz, published by Casa Gallina in collaboration with curator Catalina Pérez Meléndez, families, communities and artists from Veracruz. The book is the result of a series of encounters with children in the Papaloapan Basin, between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. Through a poetic approach, using photography, writing and illustration, it links the experiences, aspirations and memories of the river communities in their relationship with the "River of Butterflies" (the name given to the Papaloapan).  

The publication was distributed along the Papaloapan River, but also beyond Veracruz, creating communities through the activations that completed the book. A second edition is now being printed and a pop-up exhibition is planned in five different communities in Veracruz.