Bernatek Footbridge, otherwise known as Kładka Ojca Bernatka, is located in the former jewish ghetto of Krakow. It opened in 2010, connecting the districts of Kazimierz and Podgorze, replacing a previous bridge which was dismantled in 1925.
Since September 2016 it features an installation by Jerzy Kędziora called “Between The Water And The Sky”. The installation is comprised of 10 iron acrobatic figures, who balance themselves on wires crisscrossing the 130m long bridge. As the wind blows the figures sway to and forth in the wind, giving the impression that they are consciously balancing themselves on the precariously thin wires as trapeze artists made of flesh and blood do. These balancing acts are a recurring theme in Kędziora’s work, he says “I feel these balancing sculptures have a very deep meaning and are not merely decorative pieces. I believe they stimulate people to think. I believe that society needs free thinkers.“
Personally, I feel that the sculptures look beautiful here. The setting of them in amongst the wires of the footbridge, looking out across the river which separates the formerly jewish districts, is perfect. It makes me think of the frailty of human existence, as well as the beauty of art in its many forms. The way it connects us and symbolises how we as people, whether jewish, muslim, atheist or more, have so much more to unite us than separate us.
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