“Gender bender” is a person who disrupts expected gender roles. In this special program, seven institutions were invited to propose a VR work that answers to this theme as an homage to the work of John Waters, an icon of queer culture and Pardo d’onore Manor 2019. The sum of all proposals created a collective thinking on the subject.

In Shalenny’s virtual reality work the viewer goes beyond the horizon across a bridge mentally extended to infinity. Blurred silhouettes of people tear along a bending path through a limitless universe. The characters in the work are genderless and anonymous. We know only that they are seeking a new future, fleeing from their harsh reality. The Bridge sheds light on the universality of the human plight and the shared struggles that are symptomatic of our times.