Cecilie Flatval, who lives in suburban Oslo, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42. It was incurable.
She decided to take action in an unusual way - pose for a statue that would be placed in the middle of Oslo. It was the first such monument in the world. Let's let her words take it from here:
For my loved ones, the statue will mean having a place to go. Like a
memorial site. Although I like to focus on living here and now, death
will come. The statue will hopefully be able to give value to others. An
opportunity to talk about a difficult topic. What are we seeing? Me,
partly undressed. Which is not entirely uncommon. But at the same time,
we see something else. Behind this statue, which represents metastatic
breast cancer, we find women of all ages, in different family
situations, ethnicities and social backgrounds. We all show people
peices of who we are, but not everything, and with this project I show a
piece of who I am and my values. Especially to my kids who live with a
mother with cancer. As a mom I want to be there when my children need
me. But I am not always going to be able to be here to tell them that
everything will work out. Telling them it's going to be fine.
To
a large group of patients, mothers, and relatives: We are only here
while we are here, and the rest is history. Just like this project. A
statue, a memory, an opportunity for reflection. Part of me as a
metastatic breast cancer patient. Part of me as an ordinary woman. The
project gives me an opportunity to help make the patient group with
metastatic breast cancer visible. We are so much more than just a
patient group. This is maybe the most important part about the statue.
The statue was unveiled on June 20, 2022. Come to think of it, that was a year and two days before our visit. It is said that awareness of this health issue has been greatly raised by this unusual approach.
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