Water landscapes and rivers´ memories: Experiences from/on the shores in Belém

Abstract

As a city located in the Amazon, Belém has its landscapes interspersed with water. In this article, I explore discussions about experiences and imaginaries woven on the edges, whether in ports, rivers or canals of this metropolis founded from these areas. The complexity of these hybrid landscapes evokes everyday overlaps between the waters, the ecosystems developed around them and the interaction of residents and passers-by. In this way, through ethnographic and narrated images, I present the contrasts between some of the neighborhoods of the capital of Pará in dealing with these waters, with the aim of evoking the ongoing debates in these different urban dynamics. Thus, it is possible to observe how these places have been produced, accommodating multiple existences along with socio-environmental issues that intensify and are perceived and processed in different ways in the city, which becomes noticeable when observing the contexts of mobilization of neighborhoods and public management. By instigating reflections based on this theme, questions emerge about memories of the place and the relationships that are created in and with time. In this way, I elaborate reflections on the procedural constructions and convivialities between residents of these neighborhoods and the water landscapes: those that accommodate rivers in their multiple forms.