Memory of Water: Shipyard

From 14 to 19 October, the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre hosted the second artistic residency curated by Agnieszka Wołodźko and produced by

Katarzyna Szewciów for the Creative Europe project, Memory of Water. Artists from Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Scotland and Sweden carried out artistic actions and interventions related to local cultural heritage: the former Gdańsk Shipyard was both the subject and location of their work.

Following a research visit in June, the artists tested the potential of the post-industrial area on the quays in response to the rapid redevelop

ment of this part of the city. The thematic threads of their productions reflected the topics discussed by local stakeholders during a series of Urban Labs held at the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre on the future of the Shipyard: Memory, Art, Water & Public Spaces, Production, Green Spaces & Ecology, and Dialogue.

Irish artist Mary Conroy focused on the tools used by shipyard workers. She made casts and molds of these industrial materials to create seed-bomb sculptures that contributed to the on-going rewilding of the Shipyard. The sculptures were be located on Martwa Wisła quay where the Forge was originally sited following the purchase of farmland. By next Spring, the sculptures will disintegrate as flowers will grow from the seeds restoring biodiversity and green habitats to the area.

Scottish-American artist ts Beall also explored the natural environment of the Shipyard; this time, the vegetables and flowers that were grown there by workers. In a symbolic gesture, she outlined with coloured chalks the footprint of a greenhouse which, in the 1950s, was located next to the building of the Directorate. She also replanted the flower beds on Toolmakers Street and invited the public to take part in embroidering napkins with floral motifs. Through these activities, she wanted to commemorate the women workers of the Shipyard who were employed in pipe insulation. This work was carried out using toxic asbestos-containing materials, which resulted in illness and many early deaths. As a mark of respect, the artist has identified and visited the graves of the women.

Iwona Zając from Gdańsk  presented The Broadcast in reference to the pirate Radio Solidarność (Radio Solidarity) which operated during martial law in the early 1980s. At Gate No. 2, she organised an audience with Piotr Jagielski, who supervised the technical equipment of Radio Solidarność, and with Maciej Pawlak, who was its editor and author of the book “Radio Solidarność in the Tri-City”. Over three hours, the public could listen to selected archival programmes and recordings. The artist shared her recordings of former shipyard workers from her Stocznia w eterze website, as well as access to recordings collected as part of the “Stocznia w eterze”, “Radio Solidarność Gdańsk” and “Stocznia jest kobietą” projects.

Swedish documentary filmmaker Jonas Myrstrand screened his film VR in Shipyard of Gothenburg at the Baltic Sea Cultural Center. Once one of the largest shipyards in the world, nothing remains of Gothenburg’s shipbuilding past as regretfully all traces of this industrial heritage have been lost. Through his virtual reality film, viewers could get a sense of the sights and sounds of the former Shipyard in Sweden and became acquainted with both mistakes and successes of redevelopments in post-shipyard areas. During the residency, he also made film recordings of the activities of his fellow artists.

Siegfried Vynck from Belgium created a bespoke mural inspired by the interior and exterior industrial spaces of the Shipyard. He repurposed shipping containers as his ‘canvas’ to create scenes from the shipyard past and present using spray-can paint. These containers will then be exhibited by Crane M3, a new destination for locals and visitors to engage with the history and heritage of the site.

Greek artist Ira Brami worked with a retired Shipyard employee in a performance telling the story of her personal and professional life as a light crane operator to local school children. The goal of this project was to find creative ways to engage younger audiences with stories about the legacy of the Shipyard and the ethics of the Solidarity movement.

DJ Burning Woman / Kateryna Kostrova created this sound art work performed during #MemoryofwaterEU artist residency in Gdańsk in October 2019 . Visuals by Violetta Tarasenko

Being born and raised in Eastern Ukraine, the industrial heart of the country, Burning Woman was exposed to gloomy atmosphere of large-scale manufacturing plants and noisy environment of ever-growing construction sites since early childhood. At some point, she learned to love the decadent sight, and especially the sound of her hometown, developing a taste to experimental electronic, noise, dark ambient, drone, and techno, and unusual forms and methods of creative self-expression.

As a DJ and musician, Burning Woman draws inspiration from various sources and constantly develops her own sounding, trying different methods of digital audio processing and synthesis. She frequently uses field recordings to express her individual experience of interaction with the world and her perception of it through music. This is how she connects her ideas, states, and feelings with the existing reality, making them conceivable for the audience.

Apart from making her own music and djing, Burning Woman actively participates in the development of Ukrainian electronic and experimental scene, working as a curator with cultural organizations and platforms, such as “Women’s sound” project , “Platform Tiu” in Mariupol, and Institute of Sound in Kyiv. She also collaborates with other artists, musicians, and performers on various multidisciplinary art-projects.
Magda Zakrzewska Duda #MorecultureinEurope