Clean River

The highly oppressed marsh dwellers of Iraq have to live in the heavy pollution of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. When people talk about environmental disasters and social injustice these people are generally overlooked.

When I look for reference images I often look at the Marsh Arabs. Their reed homes and reed boats are basically identical to those used by the ancient Sumerians. On the one hand the Sumerian religion embraces progress, so it is a shame that they haven't seen the fruits of that progress. On the other hand if they had modernized I wouldn't be able to see their way of life.

This image is my depiction of a clean Tigris or Euphrates. Utu looks down from above and sees a person on a reed boat traveling along the water.