Le statue in omaggio ai pescatori di Lampedusa
35°30'10.2'' N 12°36'15.2'' E35°29'56.9'' N 12°36'06.5'' E
35°30'10.7'' N 12°36'31.5'' E
Le statue in omaggio ai pescatori di Lampedusa
35°30'10.2'' N 12°36'15.2'' E35°29'56.9'' N 12°36'06.5'' E
35°30'10.7'' N 12°36'31.5'' E
I was born in Sicily and there the man is born island in the island
and remains such until death, even living far from the harsh land of his birth surrounded by the immense and jealous sea.
Luigi Pirandello
Bronze is at the same time capable of rendering a great and solid certainty and a certain liquidity, as if to always remind us how much we are all stand on the brink, in front of the sea.
The artist Gery Scalzo, Sicilian painter and sculptor, between 2000 and 2002, created two statues in homage to the sea, which gives and takes away life. The first one, Trionfo sul mare (Triumph over the sea), is situated in front of Cala Salina, and represents the love, always alive in the people of Lampedusa, for those who manage to be stronger than the difficulties that surround them. The statue, in fact, does not depict a castaway, tired, but a ‘man-hero’, with his arms stretched upwards, as a sign of victory, hope and freedom. It is a victory, not a defeat, that Scalzo celebrates in his statue; it is not a vanquished who is being paid homage to, but a winner. Because he has overcome his limits and difficulties, he has survived, he is ready to live again, more intensely than before, precisely because he has seen death in the face. His boat was torn apart by the waves, but he clung to that hope, with strength, and he is there to remind everyone that the strength of survivors is the greatest hymn to life.
The second statue, called Homage to the fisherman, another of the symbols of Lampedusa, is located near the Favaloro pier. In the fishermen’s imagination, the mermaid tells at the same time the risks of life at sea but is also a symbol, as a good omen for a fruitful and rich fishing. Next to her there is a fisherman, with the fruit of his work, under the good star of the most fascinating creature of mythology, representing at the same time the dangers and the charm of the sea.
There is no Lampedusa without the sea, there is no sea without fishing. And the philosophy of the fishermen, today as yesterday, has contributed to make Lampedusa a land of peace and welcome, because only those who know the risks of life at sea can understand what awaits those who throw themselves into the waves of the Mediterranean without any guarantee.
There is also a third monument, in Lampedusa, that celebrates the fishermen. It is a marble statue, placed in Piazza Brignone, in 1991, created in 1987 by the painter, sculptor and ceramist Andrea Cascella. A tribute to the community of fishermen of the island, represented by a fisherman on a boat swept away by the waves, which has always respected the so-called ‘law of the sea’ that – yesterday as today – starts from solidarity as a pillar of life.
There is also a third monument, in Lampedusa, that celebrates the fishermen. It is a marble statue, placed in Piazza Brignone, in 1991, created in 1987 by the painter, sculptor and ceramist Andrea Cascella. A tribute to the community of fishermen of the island, represented by a fisherman on a boat swept away by the waves, which has always respected the so-called ‘law of the sea’ that – yesterday as today – starts from solidarity as a pillar of life.
