Have you heard of St. Paul-based writer Wang Ping’s “Kinship of Rivers” project? It’s an ongoing interactive public art endeavor intended “to build kinship among communities along the Mississippi and Yangtze, and bring awareness to the river’s ecosystem through art, literature, music, food and installations of river-flags made by river communities.”

Spurred by a decade of travel back and forth from China to Minnesota and a growing personal and professional interest focused on the human/natural flux surrounding these major rivers, the award-winning poet, educator and environmental activist launched “Kinship of Rivers” in earnest in 2011. Organized via a website and a lively Facebook group, the project has facilitated the creation of thousands of poems and photographs, videos, music and works of visual art paying tribute to the vital waterways. Inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, the making of  “river flags,” in particular, has become central to the mission of the group. In just the last two years, she writes, “[‘Kinship of Rivers’ artists] have paddled thousands of river miles, held workshops and flag installations at hundreds of river communities (public schools, colleges, galleries, museums, national and state parks, locks and dams, confluences, bridges).” In these artist-led workshops, community participants share food and stories as they create images, poems and make prints of area flora, in honor of their local rivers. The resulting works are then printed on hand-dyed, recycled fabric flags which are strung together and ritually installed along the riverside. The making and sharing of river-flags is intended as a gift to the land, water and one another; it’s a community sacrament acknowledging the entwined fortunes of far-flung people, threaded together by these rivers we share, which support life and livelihood for us all.

Wang Ping. Photo courtesy of the artist

Wang Ping notes that the project has at this point traveled “the entire Mississippi between Itasca and the Gulf of Mexico, the entire St. Croix and Minnesota rivers, part of the Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas rivers, the Atchafalaya Basin, and rivers from California and San Antonio.”

“Mother River” flag made by a 12-year-old girl from St. Paul, on the Stone Arch Bridge. Photo courtesy of “Kinship of Rivers”

“I want to drink from both rivers”: This flag was made by a student from St. Paul Academy who originally came from the Yangtze and now lives on the Mississippi.” Photo courtesy of “Kinship of Rivers”

And now, “Kinship of Rivers” artists are in the midst of raising funds to send a team of six to China, so they can continue their “gifting” of river-flags and good will, ecological awareness and community building along the Yangtze, culminating their journey with an installation at the river’s headwaters in Tibet. In addition to Wang Ping, the proposed group includes five young artists – two as yet in high school, a pair of recent college grads and another still early in his career – representing a variety of interests and expertise: music, film, visual arts and writing.

Prayer flags at Namtso Lake, Tibet. “Our Mississippi river flags will join in the Tibetan flags to spread our good wishes to the entire world.” Photo courtesy of “Kinship of Rivers”

Wang Ping writes:

The six of us will bring 2,000 river flags from the Mississippi to the Yangtze. Each flag is a piece of art, a tree, fish, bird and wish for peace and clean environment. Each has traveled back and forth along the Mississippi and its tributaries, blessing and blessed by people, air, water and land. We’ll install them along the Yangtze, sharing them with the Yangtze communities, celebrating our rivers and cultures with the Mississippi blues, poetry and art, inspiring the Yangtze folks to make their river flags and wishes. We’ll travel with our gifts from Shanghai to Tibet, the source of the Yangtze and all major rivers in Asia.