Ana Hupe

São Francisco River
Some say the São Francisco River, the third longest in Brazil, is no longer wild. It’s true that it has been heavily tamed by the construction of hydroelectric plants and the Sobradinho Dam (BA), built during the dictatorship in 1974, which created one of the largest reservoirs in the world. The fishermen themselves say the river is dying, as they notice the lack of fish diversity. Many species couldn’t leap over the dam, while others were poisoned by chemicals from factories.
But the spirits of the river remain alive, at least in the people’s stories. One of them is Nego D’ Água.
I stood by the banks of this still very magical river listening to these legends. Here, I share an excerpt from Coelhão’s first-person encounter with Nego d’ Água, as well as a bit of one of the surrealist paintings made by him, this immense artist from Juazeiro (in the Bahian sertão), who merges the dry landscape of the Caatinga with the waters of the Velho Chico.

Thank you @ifa.visualarts for the research trip

Images of surrealist paintings and drawings for social and ecological movements in Juazeiro, Bahia, by artist Coelhão.

Sobradinho Dam (Barragem do Sobradinho), Bahia

The last wild european are in a region called "The Blue Heart of Europe," in Eastern Europe. Some of these rivers flow through Albania — I learned this while listening to a group of artists from there at the symposium "Songs of Serpents" at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. Just imagine: the rest of European rivers are all domesticated!
It's a development model that reverberates around the world. It reminded me of the Sobradinho Dam in the sertão (backlands) of Bahia, an immense structure built in 1974, which created the largest water reservoir in Brazil and is celebrated as the "Largest artificial lake in Latin America." The dam turned the São Francisco River into its pet, wiping out fish species, displacing populations, degrading the soil — local losses in the name of national progress.
Even so, the São Francisco River continues to shine.
Thank you for the trip to the dam in the inspiring company of the artist @sarahhallelujah.

Leleco (Elenil de Souza) is one of the oldest fishermen in the community of Angari, in Juazeiro, in the sertão region of Bahia. He lives on the banks of the São Francisco River and has been fishing there since he was a child. In this conversation, he shares the changes he has notice on the river over the past fifty years. He talks about his encounter with Nego D’água, a great entity of the São Francisco River; about the changes in the quantity and variety of fish since the construction of the Sobradinho Dam in 1974; and about how the river is dying, yet it is still able to give strength to those who depend on it.

Conversation with Ana Hupe, March 2026.

Sculpture of Nego D'Água in the community of Angari, on the banks of the São Francisco River, Juazeiro, Bahia.

Ilha do Massangano (Massangano Island), Petrolina, Pernambuco.