THE commemoration service held in Glasgow Cathedral this week to mark the centenary of the First World War moved those who watched it and all who participated in it.

It came just a day after the city said farewell to another event that united peoples from across the globe, the Common­wealth Games. Next year, Glasgow will have an opportunity to renew those bonds with its most ambitious art project yet.

Pontoons used in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, and the architecture of the trenches, have together inspired an extraordinary art installation that will appear on the Clyde. In what will be the highlight of next year's Merchant City Festival, No Man's Land: Niemands­­land, will move across the river, linking a wooden domed auditorium. Three times an hour both sides of the floating dome will connect to form a space where poetry and stories from the First World War can be heard. Designed by artists from Australia, Scotland and Germany, it will cement the links between Scotland and Australia as the Gold Coast prepares to take up the baton of the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Rivers are often the lifeblood of a city; soon the Clyde will represent the heart of Glasgow in more ways than one.