When Wallace Falzon first drew up designs for a sculpture that would commemorate the impact the pandemic had on the elderly, he depicted a vulnerable old lady with a cane.

But the artist quickly scrapped that idea, deciding instead to salute the resilience of older people and their importance in inspiring the next generation.

Lest We Forget, a steel wire sculpture showing an older and younger woman reaching for each other, was unveiled in Sliema last week.

It marks the culmination of a project commissioned by the Maltese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics and the Sliema council, recalling the impact of the pandemic on the elderly and serving as a reminder of the importance of inter-generational relationships.

The iconography is reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam at the Sistine Chapel in Rome, in which the fingers almost touch, as God the Father imparts the gift of life to Adam.

The artist explains the underlying concept of his work: “The meaning of the fingers touching is twofold: The two protagonists are aching for human interaction. The old lady implores: ‘If I could only touch you, I could live again’. The second meaning refers to the circle of life. The young teenage girl, pointing towards the elderly woman, is saying, ‘I will grow up to be like you’ while the old lady is saying, ‘I was like you’.”

The artist created a concept that expresses mutual respect between two generations; the elderly are represented as an older woman and the young generation as a teenage girl of school age, that particular period of youth when opinions and characters are formed, when knowledge is gleaned, indeed the bridge between childhood and adulthood.

The sculpture captures how the pandemic took away human touch, reminding us of a year without hugs or a shoulder to cry on.

“During the peak moments of the COVID-19 pandemic, life as we knew it changed. Restrictions took away our liberty. We experienced a form of loss, without our freedom to go anywhere, engage with our social and extended-family circles,” Falzon says.

This was especially so for the elderly, some of whom were exiled to their homes or care facilities, reducing their life to mere existence and utter boredom. Social interaction was kept to a clinical minimum, with the result of psychological trauma amid the ominous cloud that contracting the disease could be a death sentence.

The two protagonists of the monument are placed on a square, a portal through which passers-by are invited to traverse, as if being summoned to leave the pandemic world behind and embrace the future.

Artist Wallace Falzon working on the sculpture that he hopes will show the resilience of the elderly and commemorate the impact of the pandemic on them. Photo: Wallace Falzon/Facebook

A moment to reflect

Falzon says that the square frame is intended for the family, in all of its contemporary forms, to snap a picture and to share it as they deem fit. Art is after all an international language of communication that unfolds according to each personal experience of life.

“The pandemic was a worldwide phenomenon, and I am sure that it will give an opportunity to the viewers to remember those who truly matter to them,” Falzon points out.

He continues: “Ironically, through the enforced isolation periods during COVID-19, some people asked more important questions, away from modern society’s alienation. The monument offers that moment of reflection.”

But the work does not only represent the suffering brought about by the pandemic but also “the great bond that transcends generations, always to be treasured as a priceless gift.”

This monument poignantly represents an older person willing to impart knowledge to a younger person, who graciously accepts it.

“Unfortunately, it takes a reality check through disasters to prioritise what is important, rather than what is urgent,” Falzon says.

This monument poignantly represents an older person willing to impart knowledge to a younger person, who graciously accepts it

“What is valuable, when one is old, is the present moment rather than the future. The moment, the present, is what we truly possess as we do not know what tomorrow holds. I’m sure there will be a change towards more genuine lifestyles if this experience is shared with those youngsters who just exist almost lifelessly and synthetically.”

The title speaks out as an admonishment, as lessons that must necessarily be learnt to avoid mistakes. Its borrowing of a phrase commonly used to commemorate war reminds one that the pandemic was swiftly followed by the war on Ukraine.

Death and pain invite more of the same, succeeding the flowery platitudes and promises of post-war aftermaths. Caligula, Hitler and Stalin decimated populations; today the world is at the mercy of yet another megalomaniac.

“Humanity does not deserve inhumane dictators,” Falzon offers. “Although we all like to think we are the most intelligent species, we lack the wisdom of good choices. The collective amnesia happens when we do not commemorate this part of history and we try to forget and ‘move on’.”