Rome is known for its many landmarks, but the Tiber River is often overlooked and neglected by its residents. (Photo by Nancy Greenleese)
When we think of Rome, we think of the Colosseum with its graceful arches and
Saint Peter’s Square, designed by Michaelangelo. We don’t often think of the
Eternal City’s oldest wonder: the Tiber River. But one American artist has. New
Yorker Kristin Jones creates public art that often focuses on nature and time. She
has found a muse in the trash-filled Tiber and wants to clean it up starting with a
small stretch. Nancy Greenleese reports from Rome:
Transcript
When we think of Rome, we think of the Colosseum with its graceful arches and
Saint Peter’s Square, designed by Michaelangelo. We don’t often think of the
Eternal City’s oldest wonder: the Tiber River. But one American artist has. New
Yorker Kristin Jones creates public art that often focuses on nature and time. She
has found a muse in the trash-filled Tiber and wants to clean it up starting with a
small stretch. Nancy Greenleese reports from Rome:
Along the Tiber, it’s “pazzo,” or crazy. Motorscooters and cars whip by near a
bridge that spans the river. Kristin Jones stands here, gazing down at the far more
tranquil river below. She decides to head down the stairs:
“We’re descending 36 feet below the street level into the channel or the gully that is now
the Tiber.”
Grafitti covers the stone walls and trash bobs in the water. It’s dirty and secluded
and Jones wants to change that with the creation of a water-themed “piazza,” the
gathering places that dot Italian cities. Jones remembers when she first saw the Tiber.
It was 1983 and she’d just arrived in Rome on a Fulbright scholarship:
And as a New Yorker I said to myself, “Oh my God. There’s something parallel here?
What is this?”
And then it hit her like a vision from the nearby Vatican:
“This is like a Central Park. Central Park is such an abstract miracle, I mean, it’s really
nature in the middle of the city and you walk there and you see leafs tremble and you see
real grass and you see a real squirrel. You even can collect mushrooms in Central Park.”
Jones could collect an impressive collection of beer bottles here. Homeless people are
camped nearby and the stench of urine is overpowering. Italian have little love for the
Tiber. It used to frequently flood, prompting the construction in the 1800s of walls that
hold – and hide – the river below the streets. Jones, however, wants people to visit and
appreciate the Tiber:
“Well, if you think about it, perhaps you could consider it to be the most ancient
monument in Rome (laughs).”
The city was founded along its banks nearly 3000 years ago and water has flowed
through its history. The Roman Empire’s aqueducts revolutionized water transportation.
A flooded Colosseum once held mock sea battles. Today, Jones says tourists still come
for the water:
“The fountains in, throughout the historic city have always been a sort of showy element
of power and exuberance and fun and yet the main artery is completely neglected.”
Until now.
(Mariamba music)
Locals and tourists stroll along the proposed piazza on a recent evening. Jones’ group
group Tevereterno, or Eternal Tiber, organized this event to promote the 600 meter
stretch. Supporters would like it to eventually host modern art exhibits and conferences
focused on water. Tonight, musicians perform and more than 1000 candles line the
river’s banks. Allegra Zapponi checks out the scene and reflects on what the Tiber means
to Italians:
“I think in the last 50 years of the last century, like the place for the rubbish. Everything
that you want to give away, you throw it in the river (laugh).”
But Kristin Jones and her supporters believe that the piazza would be a tributary for
getting people to the river and encourage its cleanup. However, arts advocate Luca
Bergamo, who has worked for two mayors, says Jones’ enthusiasm might not be enough
to get the project afloat:
“The biggest challenge is that you don’t find people investing in risky things in this
country. This is not risky but it’s unknown, not understood.”
Change is resisted in Italy, a country often strangled by its historic past. And politicians
can’t justify spending money on the Tiber when resources are scarce for more famous
monuments.
As couples at the party listen to an avante garde audio composition, attitudes might be
changing. The city has added the proposed renovation of this stretch of the Tiber, the
Piazza Tevere, to its new city plan. Jones says it’s time to hand the project over to
Italians:
“They’re all applauding me and trying to get me to keep doing it. And I keep trying to
step back and say, ‘It’s YOUR river. Hallelujah! See the potential, see the potential. I see
the potential.'”
She has agreed to plan next year’s celebration on the Tiber. In the meantime, there’s a
reminder of what could be. Jones has surreptitiously posted on the river’s embankment a
replica of the stone signs that mark Rome’s piazzas and streets. It says “Piazza Tevere.”
For the Environment Report, I’m Nancy Greenleese.