STEIGER is an artistic intervention that brings visitors to Bruges closer to the water. By inviting visitors to step onto the pier, their perspective shifts. With the water’s surface serving as a canvas for three visual art installations and through a dialogue about water, STEIGER offers a new perspective on the city.
STEIGER is a temporary pier along the Coupure, near the Predikherenbrug. The structure slopes gradually from the quay down to the water’s surface, taking visitors to a level rarely reached. The pier is statically anchored, making the fluctuations in the water level of the canals visible. A boat is moored at its base.
Three works of art are integrated into the water. A chrome-plated buoy by Joëlle Tuerlinckx floats in the center of the water, reflecting the surroundings in an ever-shifting image: the facades, the sky, and passersby. Along the quay, wheelbarrows by Willem Boel repeatedly tip water back into the canals—a rhythmic gesture that invites the casual passerby to truly look at the water. Hidden beneath the water’s surface, the tentacles of *Hydra*, a sculpture by Zoro Feigl, occasionally emerge. The three works invite the visitor to look at the water in a way that is not self-evident. They also serve as anchor points for a second layer of the project: the dialogue.
There’s always a small boat moored at the dock. From time to time, Peter Aers invites residents and visitors to join him on the water. During these boat trips, they discuss the role of water in the participants’ lives. How do you view a city you know when you look at it from the water? What changes when your perspective literally shifts? The three artworks in the water play an active role in this: they guide the gaze, they spark conversation, and they make the familiar seem strange.
STEIGER does not aim to be a mere decorative addition to the cityscape. The project seeks to interact with the water’s surface and the way it reflects Bruges—not by telling you what to see, but by bringing you closer to the water.
Even wiser together. Waterwijs* and Reiefestival are joining forces to put the canals in the spotlight. Because a city that manages water wisely is a city that thrives—today and tomorrow. With the theme “flow,” we’ll explore water in various ways—how do you see water?
Together with partners such as Waterland vzw, we invest in projects that put water back at the heart of our city.
*Waterwijs/Blue4Green is a project of the City of Bruges, implemented as part of the European Urban Initiative program, in close collaboration with Waterland, De Vlaamse Waterweg, Farys, iFLUX, Kytos, Ghent University, and Sumaqua.