Introduction
It was at a café in Bogotá, after a meeting with the Rulnat team, that the first idea for this article was drawn. We were talking about the case of the Atrato River, the first river to be granted rights in Colombia, and wondering about the contrast between the river itself and the image of it in the judicial decision. Was it the same river? Was it meant to be the same? Or was the law expected to portray different realities?
When reviewing the legal text, it is difficult to imagine a picture of a place, locate people in it, or articulate lives and rights. This work all started in a personal way, when I tried to picture the Atrato River in the judicial decision that granted rights to the river. This is a place I cherish. When the judicial decision first came out, I was intrigued by the idea of a river with standing rights. This led me to visit Quibdó, the capital city of Chocó, located on Colombia’s Pacific coast. There I was struck by the vibrancy of the people; the loud m...




