Sculptor Aigars Bikse has paid tribute to the health care workers around the globe by installing a six-metre-tall (20 feet high) statue of a medical worker with her arms outstretched in Riga, Latvia.
Sculptor Aigars Bikse has paid tribute to the health care workers around the globe, for their relentless efforts in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, by installing a six-metre-tall (20 feet high) statue of a medical worker with her arms outstretched in Riga, Latvia. The sculpture titled ‘Medics To The World’ is a tribute to the selflessness of health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The sculpture shows a female medic who seems to have just come out of the treatment room and is prepping for her next shift. Aigars’ personal bio says that he is ‘best known for his interactive sculptures and installations for public spaces, most of which bear historic, socio-cultural and political connotations’. The professor at the Art Academy of Latvia, who is one of the most prominent sculptors of Latvia, while talking about the sculpture in an interview said, “The three-month long lockdown period and fear for their lives has made the people change their perspective towards doctors, nurses and other medical staff. Many just now for the first time in their lives realized the vital importance of medical staff.”
The official statement by the organisers of the initiative said, “The people of Latvia are thankful to the medics in Latvia and all over the world for their selfless service during the COVID-19 pandemic and have put up a monument by a famous Latvian artist to health care personnel, supported by donations of almost 20 local companies.”
According to media reports, Dita Raiska, the president of the Latvian Nurses Association told local media at the unveiling ceremony, “The main heroes of the pandemic are the medical staff who risked their lives for us in order to preserve the health of humanity.”
Raiska added, “The wellbeing of the society requires concerted and responsible action. It means that everyone follows expert advice – maintaining social distance washing hands, and while medical staff take care of the infected. I am pleased that the Latvian people are aware of this responsibility and I am pleased to see that the people have appreciated our work.”
Aigars’ personal website the themes of his works “draw parallels between his fascination with mythology and socio-political processes in society. The historical setting that lays the conceptual basis of many of his sculptures and installations is central to his work, much like the mythological beliefs and their prevalence in the modern world.”
