It can be interpreted literally: as bridges that are built to connect geographically separated points. These structures connect two areas through non-places, enabling rapid communication between residents and impacting the development of infrastructure. Often, such bridges become strategically important points and architectural constants of cities and countries. Bridges can be aboveground and underwater, decorative and critically important for connecting with the outside world.

A completely different type of bridge is symbolic, used for establishing relationships, exerting governmental pressure, for building internet networks. Digital bridges are invisible, and their fiber optic network is not confined to official state borders: these networks span a large part of the planet. Existing maps of such bridges are evidence of an ongoing dialogue, but this dialogue today also falls under government control and becomes a tool of pressure.

The exhibition Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water I Will Ease Your Mind can also be based on the narrative presented in the TV series The Bridge. The original series was co-produced by Sweden and Denmark while its remakes were created by the United Kingdom and France, the United States and Mexico, Germany and Austria, Russia and Estonia, and other countries. The dichotomy of state relations and forced cooperation reveals the complexity of relationships between people who live next to each other but speak different languages and have different political and social contexts. The detective backdrop, which forms the basis of the series' plot, transforms the bridge from an object into a subject of expression. The perspective of the investigator/researcher encounters an equally searching gaze from the other side of the bridge.

The bridge-as-subject presents a complex challenge—the establishment of relationships beyond predetermined geographical locations. Such points on the map—where one can see how people live "on the other side"—are often used as political tools. We all may find ourselves in a situation where we must choose: to close borders or open them, to send a message from one side to the other or to stop communication, to observe from a distance or to coexist.

*Bridge over Troubled Water is a song written by Simon & Garfunkel, but as the soundtrack of this exhibition, we refer to the cover by Johnny Cash and Fiona Apple.