Facing the sea

The sculpture Towards the Sea, in Ålesund

The sculpture Towards the Sea, Mot Havet, represents a fisherman's wife scanning the horizon, on the Kiperviktorget square of Ålesund. The Ålesund audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this touching bronze work, a tribute to those who waited for the return of the sailors.

The fisherman's wife facing the horizon

Mot Havet, which means Towards the Sea, is a bronze sculpture erected on the Kiperviktorget square. It represents a standing woman, dressed in the manner of the fishermen's wives of the nineteenth century, the gaze fixed towards the marine horizon. Her position and her attitude indicate to us that she scans the sea, in waiting. This touching work pays tribute to all these women who, having stayed on land, waited with anguish and hope for the return of the sailors, the fishermen and the navigators gone to face the dangers of the ocean. In a town like Ålesund, whose history and prosperity were intimately linked to fishing and the sea, these departures were numerous and the fate of the men uncertain, at the mercy of the storms. The sculpture thus evokes the part of shadow and courage of this maritime life, the weight of the waiting and the strength of the women. A moving witness of the identity of the town and a tribute to the seafarers, the sculpture Towards the Sea is a touching stop of the discovery of Ålesund.

What to see

You admire, on the Kiperviktorget square, the bronze sculpture Mot Havet, Towards the Sea, representing a nineteenth-century fisherman's wife scanning the marine horizon in waiting, a touching tribute to those who waited for the return of the sailors gone to face the dangers of the ocean, in this town linked to the sea. The sculpture Towards the Sea evokes the maritime identity of Ålesund. It is a touching stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The sculpture Towards the Sea lies on the Kiperviktorget square, in the heart of Ålesund, reachable on foot. It is an open-air sculpture, freely visible. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

What does the sculpture Towards the Sea represent in Ålesund?

A nineteenth-century fisherman's wife, standing, scanning the marine horizon in waiting; this bronze sculpture, Mot Havet, pays tribute to those who waited for the return of the sailors and the fishermen gone to face the dangers of the ocean.

Where is the sculpture Towards the Sea of Ålesund?

On the Kiperviktorget square, in the heart of Ålesund, in Norway.