Ljmmat/Sjhl

You are standing on the bank of the Sihl and can see the river joining the Limmat here. At the spot where the two rivers come together, their names have been fixed to the wall – spelled rather curiously. This is an installation by the Zurich artists Hannes and Petruschka Vogel – and is a homage to James Joyce. The Irish writer lived in Zurich during both world wars, and is also buried here. The spot where the Limmat and Sihl join was one of his favourite places. It reminded Joyce of his home and the song “The Meeting of the Waters”. This poem by the Irish writer Thomas Moore extols the mingling of two rivers. Joyce wrote about the Limmat and Sihl in his seminal work “Finnegans Wake”. His idiosyncratic spelling of the rivers – with “j” instead of “i” – has been adopted here by the artists, as a nod to the great Irish writer: J. J. – James Joyce.