Mercats de Barcelona

The Paraná River had been a very rich river and now its entire ecosystem (fish, plants and even the inhabitants of the river) is threatened with extinction.

For many decades, in the name of progress, the river has been a source of great business: the export of fish, the construction of dams, and the development of luxury housing.

As a result, fishing is facing an unprecedented crisis. Dams such as Yacyretà have affected the breeding of major fish species and uncontrolled exporting fishing companies have exploited the few remaining resources. The reality is that the fish are getting smaller and smaller and will soon leave fishermen with nothing to fish for.

Dams were filled to produce energy, leaving many thousands of men and women unemployed and homeless. They witnessed their homes and surrounding lands flooded forever, facing the unthinkable consciousness of being left with nothing. Most of them worked by producing handmade bricks, but as this rich land was engulfed by water, their jobs were lost due to the flood. Many of them were relocated, others decided to evict them, although no one lost their food.

Every day, Paraná is losing its fish, its land and its people. Everything is in danger of extinction in the midst of a series of crises that herald a silent death. A situation that aims to capture the exhibition “Shores: danger of extinction” by photographer Toni Arnau and is part of the International Festival of Photography on Human Rights and Global Justice in Barcelona, ​​held from 10 to 20 December 2021.

The Festival aims to take a look at the human rights situation, global problems, and their causes using photography to generate spaces for reflection and information that stimulate critical citizenship, with the ability to intervene in the debates that make up our time.

(*) Text traduït automàticament