On Meanders and Waterfalls, or How to Flood the Flow of the River

This essay reflects on the relationship between water, landscape, and their representation, using the figure of the meander as a starting point to explore the river’s temporality and how it interacts with its environment. The essay then examines the resistance of waterfalls to being captured in maps, and how the tourist images of them produced in Chile during the dictatorship diverted attention from political excesses. Likewise, photographs of waterfalls reveal a tension between the desire to freeze the movement of water and its continuous flow, which calls into question the perception of water as a manageable and static resource. Drawing on these images and concepts, the essay critiques the utilitarian view of water and proposes an approach that recognises it as an integral part of the social, thus expanding the understanding toward a hydrosocial cycle that challenges hegemonic scientific simplifications.