Joburg's Statue of Liberty

A Bulgarian friend of mine asked me to take a photo of myself wishing her boyfriend a Happy Birthday from Johannesburg, SA. She was putting together a sweet global birthday greeting collage for him. She asked me to take the photograph in front of some landmark or background that is unique to my locale. I chose one of my favorite pieces of public art in the Joburg CBD, The Firewalker sculpture

Lou & Serge and I in front of The Firewalker

The Firewalker by William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx  is an 11-metre high metal sculpture created by fractured pieces that split apart as you view it from different points. It pays homage to the women who walk along nearby Diagonal street with lit braziers atop their heads selling sheep’s heads 'smileys' or mielies (corn cobs) and the everyday activities of city dwellers.

NY's Statue of Liberty on the 4th of July

The image of a woman carrying light or fire on her head does, of course, evoke the image of New York's Statue of Liberty. But according to the artists, "She is a very particular Statue of Liberty - Johannesburg's Statue of Liberty - which carries with it, at every point, either the history or the threat of its own collapse."

HBD Rifi from Johannesburg, SA!