Columbus wanted (with or without a head) in the United States
Among statues, busts, reliefs, murals, monuments, memorials, obelisks, fountains, towers, stained glass windows, subway stations, lampposts and even a centenary tree with a commemorative plaque. The list of public monuments to Christopher Columbus in the United States adds up to a total of 169 . The United States is by far the place in the world where art has represented Christopher Columbus more on public roads . Well, actually, the total number has gone to 167 after a statue was toppled in Minnesota and another outside beheaded in boston during the protests following the murder of George Floyd.
Walk along the boardwalk in the North End neighborhood of the city of Boston awakens a concoction of mixed feelings . There are many curious people who come to the end of the flowery arcade of the park facing the sea to experience it in the first person the force of the absence of art still warm . This is the disappearance of the statue of Christopher Columbus, after the City Council decided to remove the headless monument from public space in a matter of hours. would deserve a sociological analysis see how people circle space as if the statue was still there . Their no presence imposes and is noticed. Not in vain, beheading his figure already represents one of the symbolic acts most applauded by the organization Black Lives Matter Y American Indian Associations, who assure that they will not rest until the disappearance of the 167 representations of Columbus that remain standing on public roads. with or without head.
For some, complaints do not justify gratuitous vandalism that will not erase history . For others, this is only the beginning of what is to come. “Thank you, people of Boston! Justice has finally been served with the statue of the greatest criminal in the history of the Americas. For decades, the statues of Columbus have suffered the same fate throughout the entire continent. It's time to change history!" one of the few places that managed to photograph Columbus without his head . A travel photographer who also managed to capture the snapshot opts for acid humor: "Christopher Columbus 'found' America, but he can't even find his own head?" he says on Instagram.
The truth is that the police brutality it has generated tons of impotence among the protesters who have channeled all the accumulated anger against what they consider a daily provocation against their race. Beyond other figures of white slavers , for most of the most radical activists, the monuments of Christopher Columbus that are still standing in America they are an unequivocal tribute to the colonization of the white man and the most offensive artistic representation of power . Interestingly, a figure who has never achieved a quorum among historians due to his uncertain origins and indecipherable past, raises no doubt among America's racialized communities.
“We must understand that the symbolic nature of public art is at the same time its greatest strength and its main danger. ", He says Miguel Angel Cajigal , better known on social media under the alias of the baroque and member of ICOMOS , an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the conservation of the world's monuments. “ If the monuments were indifferent they would not be attacked. We can never be in favor of the destruction of monuments And I, of course, am not in favour.” The truth is that most tyrants have needed a oppressed people , and many historical monuments have been erected leaving a trail of social injustices. Then, Where is the limit of rational justification for the destruction of public monuments? . "There is no such limit. Monuments must be preserved or documented . But this does not mean that I am surprised by what is happening, since the destruction of memorials is at the core of our cultural identity . It has been done since ancient times and will surely continue to be done for a long time. And, in fact, the States themselves have played to destroy monuments and statues with symbolic value, both in regime changes and in wars”.
It is not necessary to go so far back in time to see a good example of this apparent contradiction exposed by the art historian. In 2003, the army of The United States helped topple a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square. . It was one of the images of the war and no one opposed that act. Different years, different countries and, of course, different circumstances, but in the end the vandalizing a public monument as a concept it is the most remembered. Sometimes, unfortunately, more than the loss of life. “ This poses a paradox ”, continues El Barroquista. “Because sometimes it is okay to destroy sculptures, and it is applauded, promotes or collaborates mediatically in that destruction , as in the demolition of statues of Stalin or Saddam, and other times from the same forums it is said 'Hey, you can't destroy this, because it's history' . Aren't Stalin or Saddam history? What many people detect is a rather crude pretext: when someone is bothered by a particular destruction, it seems that the historical argument is the most helpful, when in reality that argument should work for all memorial sculptures”.
Returning to the particular case of the monuments to Christopher Columbus, there is an unprecedented phenomenon . In a weird domino effect created by the awakening of the anti-racist movements all over the world. The death of a black citizen at the hands of the Minneapolis police can have an effect on a Columbus monument in Barcelona , since the City Council of Barcelona values the placement of a plaque on the statue at the end of Las Ramblas where its historical context and its direct link with colonization and slavery are clear.
“I am absolutely in favor of its resignification . It would even be great to use it for correctly explain Columbus's own voyages . It is obvious that we are talking about a monument with a sufficient entity so that dismantling it is not very logical, nor justifiable, because it is also a piece of great historical and artistic value . You have to think that it is one of the most important in size and importance of those that have been dedicated to it in the whole world, perhaps together with the Columbus Lighthouse in the Dominican Republic . Nor do we dismantle the obelisks of Rome because they are there in memory of an empire that exercised its military power in half of the European continent, ”he says.
For this, and many more reasons, the case of Christopher Columbus is paradoxical . “On the one hand, it is a tremendously nebulous historical figure , about which we know very little. He is responsible for one of the most important events in the history of mankind, such as being pioneer of contact between two continents that did not know of the existence of each other . This phenomenon had shadows, but I think everyone can agree that, in general, it has been positive, as it is positive to know the bottom of the oceans or other celestial bodies in our Solar System. But, on the other hand, he has been a figure traditionally used, already for a long time, as a symbol of the idea of colonization Michelangelo says.
It is important to make it clear that the verb "colonize" and the term "colony" are not derived from Christopher Columbus . Both terms already existed in Latin. “ All these sculptures resignified the character at the time , because in reality the great paradox is that Columbus was more of an explorer than a colonizer . But since his own name is associated with a verb and a whole concept that is now undergoing profound revision (which is something unusual in history), it is almost impossible for it not to become the ultimate symbol of colonialism in which he probably had very little to do. In the end, those who built the statues of Columbus were the first to use his image in a distorted way That is why it is so paradoxical that now someone is complaining that those who want to remove them do not know the story.
Going to the bottom of the matter does not imply that the presence of the 169 monuments of Columbus in the streets . In a video posted on YouTube a few days ago, El Barroquista already exposed many of the points exposed here . According to his criteria, and that of many art historians, sculptures do a greater service to the knowledge of history in a museum . “If what worries some people about the vandalization of certain statues is that history is adulterated, the best way to guarantee that this does not happen is placing those figures in museums . there they will be preserved, studied and correctly signified . We do not learn history in the streets and parks, but in classrooms, books, museums and outreach . I do not know anyone who has learned the history of Franco by visiting the Valley of the Fallen or looking at a statue of Franco. That is precisely why if we want to guarantee that these artifacts fulfill a historical mission, the best formula is to musealize them . the famous phrase 'That belongs in a museum' from Indiana Jones has full application in all of this,” he points out.
For the end there is an almost dystopian vision . Something that only science fiction would be able to draw seen what was seen: a world without historical monuments on the street . From one or the other. Would we all be happy or would we all be angry? Would it be the way that for once people value art beyond when emotions cloud judgment? “ It is very interesting to consider the streets without exaltations of any kind ”, He says looking for the necessary pause to arrive at an answer. “We are so used to them that it would surely be strange for us. Perhaps then the disputes would take place in the opposite direction, through the request that this or that character should have a statue. What is clear to me is that many people are not aware that these statues were, on many occasions, minority decisions . When we study the decisions that led to the erection of certain commemorative monuments, we see that in a majority of cases were raised and paid for by very private interests , such as associations or companies that, in a personal capacity, donated or pressured for the figure in question to be placed, when not directly promoted politically with a very thoughtful use”.
If all societies knew that most street monuments were never erected by consensus, perhaps something would change. “ Perhaps it would be an interesting novelty to reach consensus regarding public honors : I am sure that a majority of society would be very clear about the type of personalities that deserve a monument and, surprisingly, few of them have it”.