Along the Weser promenade in the Bremen city centre, a wooden mannequin floated in the river for a month as a public art installation. This is the Breman. As the river changes direction twice a day, he always turns to face the oncoming current, swimming in place against the flow, like a Bremer Sisyphus. He carries with him a tangled nest of debris that have at one point all floated down the Weser’s banks, coagulating together into a primordial soup out of which the Breman emerges.

After all, the city emerged from these waters as well, and the waters present many faces. These changing flows are the product of significant human intervention into the river’s course and the push of the tides upriver. Each flow has a different character, carrying with it different ecological, political, personal, and economic stories about the city. Perhaps, the city’s soul is to be found in the water, attuned to the rhythm of the tides, animated by the opposing currents.

Indeed, Bremen is a city of contradictions – of opposing currents. The vitality of the city comes from the resilient, continuous work that is performed to bridge these contradictions. From the water, the Breman sees both the city’s future and past. The figure is pushed and buffeted by the river in a visceral, absurd negotiation with the river’s energies. He is a surrogate and a companion in which we can see reflections of ourselves and our city – each in its own scale trying to find stable footing among turbulent currents. What is he confronting? What are we? Every day, as the Breman faces a different face of the river, the answers may change. But only in asking these questions may we work towards an answer.

This project was supported by the Karen und Uwe Hollweg Stiftung and the Bremen Senator für Kultur's office.

Summer 2024