Eleven breasts, each one hammered out of an individual sheet of copper. Each is different and unique, showing the diversity of women’s bodies, one of them proudly carrying a scar.
One in Eleven aims to depict the reality of breast cancer, which affects one in eleven women in the EU,8 while also criticising the silence and shame that often surrounds it. In Western cultures, scars are concealed because they represent something that deviates from the norm. This is particularly true for women: scars clash with the ideal of perfection that society imposes on them.
Why is it that, in men, scars can signify strength and resilience while being shrouded in shame when they appear on women? Shouldn’t something like breast cancer, which affects nearly 10% of the female population, be a topic of public discussion?.
One in Eleven strives to include all kinds of breasts, along with those of breast cancer survivors. A mastectomy scar should never be a burden or a cause of shame.
