Memory of WaterLevadia
04 Dec 2020

Levadia webinar: From The Banks of Oblivion Into The Memory of Water

Levadia, partner of Memory of Water collaboration co-funded by Creative Europe, is taking the torch from Ostend, continuing the wonderful journey. Levadia will present the impact of the programme on the local artists and people and will share with us the experience that the city has gained by participating in Memory of Water.
Through a narration of the events, which took place during the two residencies in Levadia, we will get to know the city and we will discover if the programme managed to achieve its goals here.

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21 May 2020

Meeting: Local Development through Culture

The Municipality of Levadia participated in a meeting held in Athens on 18 February 2020 organized by the Hellenic Creative Europe Bureau and the Municipality of Keratsini in Drapetsona. The participating speakers at the meeting focused on the pivotal role of culture in local development.

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29 May 2019

Reflection: Documenting Levadia

The Swedish artist and film-maker Jonas Myrstrand participate at the ArtCafe with a screening of his music documentary The Singing Raven (60 mins).

He did a “Spring Race” on the Erkyna river with some children and filmed it to make “A good Memory of Water”. Jonas also documenting and filming the hole process, actions and interactions of all the artists to trace the learning and impacts of Memory of Water in all the partner cities. Read More

15 Apr 2019

Reflection: Sun in an Empty Room

To get to the first meeting with the activists and inhabitants of Levadia at Nerotrivi, we took the road along the Erkyna river. My attention was drawn to the empty houses with no front walls. They invited me inside without hiding anything.

From the other side of the road, they were perfect imitations of ordinary houses. With windows, doors, a balcony and a house number. No sign of their shameless denudation.

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13 Apr 2019

Reflection: Να το πάρει το ποτάμι / Let The River Take It

Να το πάρει το ποτάμι / Let the River Take It was designed as a collective catharsis, an invitation both to remember and to release memories into the River Erkyna. It aimed to weave together references from Levadia's past and present, including the tradition of washing clothes and rugs in the river, the historical industry of textile mills and the many women who worked in them, and the ancient myth of the Oracle of Trophonius – where the dual springs of remembrance and forgetting combined to form the river itself. The event was also a purposeful re-staging of domestic activity in the public realm, making visible 'women's work' which is often either hidden or ignored.

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11 Apr 2019

Reflection: Vassias Tsokopoulos on “Sun in an Empty Room”

This is a reflection on "Sun in an Empty Room", the work of Iwona Zając in the abandoned home of Zoza and Loukas Papanikolaou.

In contrast to Edward Hopper’s homonymous painting, where the sun enters the room of an empty house as a ‘vanquisher’, in Iwona Zając's work, it enters the empty room of a ramshackle house and the light recomposes the shattered memory of the people who once lived there. The mural depicts the portraits of Zoza and her father, Loukas, with respect, love and discretion. They return the gaze of on-lookers across the River Erkyna. The bond created is one that crosses time to link people, river and place in a reification of memory.

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01 Apr 2019

Residency: Levadia Production Residency

Artistic Residency

The 1stArtists’ Residency in Levadia (28 January – 2 February) focused on a first and in depth acquaintance of artists with the city and its people. The artists during their first residency had the opportunity to discover different sources of inspiration for their artistic proposal. The 2ndresidency had as a main objective the artistic intervention of the participating artists for the elevation of the river Erkyna and the space along the river as well as to show that the river is a vital element for the development of the city. There was a positive footprint from the residency in the city.Read More

15 Mar 2019

Reflection: Preparing for Levadia

Our six artists from six European post-industrial cities are preparing to embark on the second of their six residencies, this one in Levadia, Greece. I am so excited to know what the artists are thinking and have glimpses of what might be, like glittering reflections on the water. Siegfried from Ostend who works with spray paint, is identifying some young people who make graffiti art in the city. Will they work on one particular wall in one particular space to create work together? Will they work on their own work and also help the artist create a new mural for the city?Read More

28 Feb 2019

Reflection: On the Banks of the River Erkyna

The Memory of Water Residency Programme consists of two international visits in three cities: Levadia, Gdansk and Govan. The first visit is focussed on understanding the local context by meeting and learning from communities, field experts and stakeholders. The second visit is focussed on artistic production when the artists will deliver planned actions and interventions in partnership with their hosts. Our first research residency took place in January with the Municipality of Levadia and our base camp was the former public laundry on the banks of the River Erkyna in what was once the industrial zone of the city.

In developing the programme for the first research residency, we took into consideration a number of important factors. Of course, we began with our core research question: What’s next for post-industrial waterfront heritage zones in European cities? Then, we discussed our three residency themes: (1) memory and heritage; (2) access and inclusivity; and (3) environmental responsibilities and impacts. This was followed by specific requests from the artists. We have invited the artists to share with us here their reflections on each visit so that we may trace the similarities and differences between each of the partner cities.