Francesca Magnani
Il Ponte Blu
I met this group of young women during their discovery of one of NYC\'s most iconic places: a park that, fully covered in graffiti, occupies the space between the arches and the colonnades of the Manhattan Bridge. The women, while skating, were wearing the pollera, a layered skirt traditionally worn by Indigenous women that represents a complex cultural heritage. The design and color of the women\'s outfits stood in stark contrast with the drawings on the walls. The presence of Imillas Skate in one of my favorite playgrounds happened like an apparition. To my eye, they arrived like \"korai,\" the youthful maidens of Greek mythology. Their surprise and enthusiasm for exploring the space reconnected me with my own wanderings in the city that began almost three decades ago. Their voices and laughter transported me back to my school days, when I translated book VI of the Odyssey, reading about Nausicaa and her companions playing near the banks of the river. On this summer day, close to the East River, my path crossed with theirs and the threads of our experience, memory and personal stories intertwined under the bright afternoon sun. The series is part of an ongoing series about the Manhattan Bridge, The blue bridge.
