LoireThe internationale of rivers is an art and research project connected to the world’s waters — rivers, lagoons, wetlands, lakes, seas, and oceans — in order to empower with art and new narratives the human communities who seek to recognize them not as resources, but as living entities. Across continents, it accompanies a growing movement to grant legal personhood to natural forms and processes, affirming that they, too, carry memory, agency, and a claim to justice.
The internationale of rivers works, namely, on a shift in perspective : to see natural entities as a living workforce - parallel to human work - whose energies have long been absorbed by extractivist economies. Natural processes and ecosystems sustain life, they are mobilised and used in the diverse chains of production. To see them as participants in a shared social world implies imagining an agenda where they can claim better working conditions, and a more equitable recognition of their own rhythms and time-scales.
The internationale of rivers is initiated by the writer, researcher and artist Camille de Toledo, whose work bridges narration, law, and ecological thought.
Around this initiative, an evolutive collective is formed - according to the countries and terrains - bringing together researchers, artists, legal scholars, and cultural institutions. Universities, independent art centers, as well as international partners contribute to its intellectual and creative development.
Universities, independent art centers, as well as international partners contribute to its intellectual and creative development.
Citizens and local communities also play a central role in grounding the project in lived realities.
This moving collective operates as a transversal alliance, connecting artistic imagination with legal innovation and civic engagement.
Together, they work to advance a profound shift in worldview — one that supports the recognition of the rights of nature and redefines our shared conditions of inhabiting our « milieux ».
Bourges 2028 – European Capital of Culture, as part of its international artistic and cultural program. Within this framework, the internationale of rivers contributes to rethinking Europe’s relationship to its landscapes, watersheds, and living ecosystems. Through exhibitions, research, and public assemblies, it expands the cultural imagination of what a « water region » can mean in an era of ecological transformation. Bourges 2028 offers a platform for transnational collaborations, connecting local river territories to global movements for the rights of nature. Together, they position culture as a space for legal, ecological, and symbolic renewal. To know more : link 1 and link 2
2025-2028 : The Parliament of Parana with the Instituto del Litoral, Argentina. The internationale of rivers cooperates with the Instituto del Litoral in Santa Fe, Argentina, to develop the “Parliament of Paraná,” dedicated to the second largest river system in Latin America. Bringing together artists, researchers, jurists, and local communities, the initiative creates a space where the river is treated as a living subject rather than mere infrastructure. Through assemblies and research, it explores new forms of ecological governance. The shared goal is to advance toward a “Constitution of the River.” To know more about: link 1 / link 2 / link 3
2022-2025 : Towards an internationale of rivers, Nantes…
“Towards an International Network of Rivers and Other Elements of Nature” is a three-year collective research and artistic project (2023–2026) led by the Institut d’études avancées de Nantes in partnership with Le Lieu Unique and Notre Affaire à Tous, proposed by writer and research associate Camille de Toledo.
It unfolds as a shared, evolving narrative punctuated by three key moments that seek to rethink our legal and political relationship to living ecosystems.
Through public hearings and interdisciplinary reflection, the project imagines a transition toward a “terrestrial political economy” grounded in an extension of the rights of nature.
Workshops and discussions invite participants to co-design and test “laws to come” that could recognize rivers, forests, and other natural entities as legal subjects.
By bringing together researchers, citizens, legal experts, and artists, it creates spaces of collective experimentation for alternative forms of coexistence with the living world.
2025 : I am the river and the river is me, Berlin…
In July 2025 at the Floating University Berlin, the Institut français d’Allemagne presented “WE ARE THE RIVER » as part of The Night of Ideas, a two-day program dedicated to the rights of rivers and nature and curated by artist, writer, and thinker Camille de Toledo
The event transformed the Floating University site into a laboratory of collective reflection, dialogue, and creative practice exploring the legal and ontological shift toward recognizing rivers as living entities.
Co-organized by the Institut français d’Allemagne and Floating e.V., the program brought together artists, scholars, and citizens to imagine more inclusive and sustainable futures.
By foregrounding the Spree and global rivers alike, the project invited participants to rethink our relationship to water, law, and shared worlds.