On 6 September this year, a Love Bridge for marriages will be launched in Pretoria. Through this project, the organisers of Marriage Week SA (from 1-7 September), in collaboration with Cool Capital, hope to encourage a renewed focus on the institution of marriage.
“Our vision with this project is to see how thousands of married South African couples declare their eternal promises to each other by means of permanently attaching these love locks to this newly constructed bridge,” Says Liezel van der Merwe, Managing Editor at INTIEM magazine and head organiser of Marriage Week South Africa.
“This initiative is inspired by the bridges in Paris, where romance reigns and love locks decorates the Pont des Arts as a timeless symbol of love. Couples engrave their names onto the locks, attach it to the bridge and throw the key into the Seine River as a sign of their everlasting love. The Love Lock concept has spread to cities around the world and now it is Pretoria’s turn,” she says.
Johan and Grete Wentzel from Wdesign have already designed the bridge that will be erected at Huckleberry’s in Magnolia Dal.
The Love Bridge will be inaugurated during a special event with famous couples, and the public can buy their tickets at iTickets. Each couple present, will receive a lock to engrave their names onto and will have the opportunity to be one of the first couples to close their locks onto the bridge. The organisers of Marriage Week are excited to get Cool Capital involved with this project. The goal of Cool Capital Biennale 2014 is to introduce the public to art, architecture, urban and graphic design, and in this manner, bring visual, perceptual and actual change to Pretoria.
Marriage Week SA is an initiative in collaboration with INTIEM magazine and 1Life, that strives to make people aware of just how important stable marriages are for the wellbeing of our nation. Through this the organisers hope to inspire couples around South-Africa to once again focus on the wellbeing of their marriage.