Maman is Louise Bourgeois’s giant spider sculpture installed outside the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
Bourgeois created the sculpture in 1999 as part of a series of monumental spiders. The title is the French word for “mother,” and Bourgeois connected the spider’s qualities of weaving, protection, and repair with her own mother, who worked as a tapestry restorer.
The Ottawa version is made of stainless steel and reaches more than 10 metres in height. It carries a sac containing marble eggs beneath its abdomen, combining an imposing scale with a direct reference to maternity and vulnerability.
Several casts exist in museums and public spaces around the world, including Bilbao, London, Seoul, Tokyo, and Doha. Maman is therefore not the name of only one unique spider, but of a major sculptural series with multiple authorized versions.