The Fire Walker is a sculptural collaboration between artists William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx, situated on the southern foot of the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. The sculpture when viewed from a particular angle presents the silhouetted image of a woman carrying a burning brazier on her head. This image is typical to the street culture of Johannesburg and is very particular to the site on which the work is installed. These entrepreneurs sell roasted ‘mielies’ and also ‘smileys’ (roasted sheeps’ heads) to pedestrians, and are often seen carrying their burning braziers on their heads as they find places from which to sell their food. In this sense the work is monument to the everyday, the overlooked, and to the entrepreneurial activities that have taken place on that site for many years.

Standing at a height of 11 meters, the work is constructed from laser cut steel plates, evocative of bits of torn paper that are clad over a steel frame and arranged in a seemingly abstract manner. When one steps onto the site from any one of the two pedestrian crossings that give access to the northern tip of the site, then these loose steel fragments will combine visually to create the cohesive and monumental image of The Fire Walker.