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.