Monument to a physiotherapist

2017

Narracje Festival

Norbert Delman calls for the replacement of monuments erected to commemorate heroes and momentous historical events with statues celebrating everyday life, not overloaded with symbols and, above all, removed from political power.

Brzeźno’s glowing past as a spa town, with its villas and important guests, has never been forgotten, but the artist reaches for a simple, ordinary story: he creates a monument to the Physiotherapist, the contemporary Bathing Supervisor, who once looked after the wellbeing of patients of Brzeźno’s spa house. Delman places his sculpture in the central point of the former spa town, on Zdrojowa Street, right next to the former bathing buildings. The promenade, which used to culminate with a pier of over 200 m, now leads straight to the beach.

In his art, Norbert Delman, himself a former athlete, often refers to the cult of the body, sporting ambition and competition, at the same time admiring the determination and systematic nature of competitors, whose everyday efforts gradually bring them closer to their dream goal. Yet the person he puts on a pedestal is the physiotherapist, a figure of seemingly secondary importance, whose work he equates with the everyday struggle of sporting heroes. Maybe he even values it more, as the dedication and perseverance of the anonymous physiotherapist are devoid of the splendour of victory available to athletes.

Monument to a physiotherapist

2017

Narracje Festival

Norbert Delman calls for the replacement of monuments erected to commemorate heroes and momentous historical events with statues celebrating everyday life, not overloaded with symbols and, above all, removed from political power.

Brzeźno’s glowing past as a spa town, with its villas and important guests, has never been forgotten, but the artist reaches for a simple, ordinary story: he creates a monument to the Physiotherapist, the contemporary Bathing Supervisor, who once looked after the wellbeing of patients of Brzeźno’s spa house. Delman places his sculpture in the central point of the former spa town, on Zdrojowa Street, right next to the former bathing buildings. The promenade, which used to culminate with a pier of over 200 m, now leads straight to the beach.

In his art, Norbert Delman, himself a former athlete, often refers to the cult of the body, sporting ambition and competition, at the same time admiring the determination and systematic nature of competitors, whose everyday efforts gradually bring them closer to their dream goal. Yet the person he puts on a pedestal is the physiotherapist, a figure of seemingly secondary importance, whose work he equates with the everyday struggle of sporting heroes. Maybe he even values it more, as the dedication and perseverance of the anonymous physiotherapist are devoid of the splendour of victory available to athletes.