3 minute read

Free the Rivers

Free the Rivers

An artist’s fight to save Bosnia’s wild rivers

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by Molly Baker

Croatian photographer Luka Tomac is standing in his sleeveless wetsuit instructing a few close friends to cover the edges of his billboard-sized canvas that they’ve just submerged in the shallowest part of the upper Neretva River. They’re knee-deep in the river, outside of Konjic, a town in northern Herzegovina about 50 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo. The Neretva flows from its source at the base of nearby Jabuka mountain—and is known for being some of the coldest and cleanest drinking water in the world—to the Adriatic Sea.

The slight current of the river ripples over the photo of a woman’s face—a fellow activist from Zagreb, Croatia—as his friends crawl around with river stones, blending the image into the rocky bottom of the river. A small raft floats by the temporary installation, confirming what Luka hoped for—a location that many boaters will see during the spring-melt rafting season, spreading the message he wants to convey: Bosnia’s rivers are in danger.

Molly Baker assists Luka and friends sink the Neretva River installation.

Molly Baker assists Luka and friends sink the Neretva River installation.

Andrew Burr

More than 3,000 hydropower dams and diversions are either proposed or in the process of being built on the wild rivers of the Balkans—with almost half intended within protected areas—at a moment when dams are being decommissioned and removed throughout much of the developed world. The planned Balkan dams will cause severe damage to an ecological landscape that no longer exists anywhere else on the European continent. The global community will lose another ecological treasure at the hands of financial gain for international developers hiding behind the facade of “green hydropower energy.”

Luka understands that while nonprofits like Friends of the Earth, Riverwatch, scientists and supporting organizations are critical to protecting rivers in the Balkans, their outlets can be limited. Collaborating with NGOs, he has used nonconventional platforms—murals, books and galleries—to influence public opinion. Art coalesced with activism is the nucleus of Luka’s inspiration, and his installations are meant to impact, persuade and start important conversations among locals, media and governments. “I’ve always struggled with separating my art and activism,” says Luka. “But it is the responsibility of artists to help tell these complicated stories.”

Artist/ activist Luka Tomac inspects his latest installation on the Neretva River.

Artist/ activist Luka Tomac inspects his latest installation on the Neretva River.

Andrew Burr

Another of Luka’s installations, a larger-than-life mural of a river activist swinging a sledgehammer toward an actual hole in the Idbar Dam, stands tall on the nearby Bašćica River. Built in 1959 in the valley below Prenj mountain near Konjic, the Idbar Dam cracked soon after its construction. Investors and construction crews had ignored multiple warnings from the locals not to underestimate the force of the Bašćica, a river known to be unpredictable and fast-flowing. Idbar was decommissioned soon after it was constructed, when the river began fracturing the dam, allowing the Bašćica to flow freely again. Luka’s 15-meter mural is a powerful statement about the fight to keep Bosnia’s rivers flowing. Since its creation, the old dam site has been crowded with people coming to see the woman who represents their own sentiments. Next to the hole in the dam it reads: Sloboda Rijekama!, or “Freedom to the Rivers!”

The Idbar Dam installation has become a powerful symbol of freedom for Bosnia’s rivers.

The Idbar Dam installation has become a powerful symbol of freedom for Bosnia’s rivers.

Andrew Burr

Protect the Blue Heart of Europe

For more on Patagonia’s efforts to help protect the Blue Heart of Europe—a truly pristine network of thousands of kilometers of the continent’s last untouched waterways in the Balkans—visit patagonia.com/blueheart.

To connect with groups working to protect free-flowing rivers, remove dams and seek truly sustainable energy sources in your region, visit our Action Works site at patagonia.com/actionworks.

See the Blue Heart film

Blue Heart documents the battle for Albania’s Vjosa River, the effort to save the Balkan lynx in Macedonia, and the women of Kruščica, Bosnia, who are protesting to protect their community’s only source of drinking water. Visit patagonia.com/blueheart for film release dates and screenings.