On Nocturnal Statue Removals

A statue of Joseph Stalin has been removed from its perch overnight (the short report follows). For those interested in the subject, I recommend this more extensive article published by the BBC, which outlines similar dictator-removal acts. I am all for the removal of dictatorial statues and symbols, but I think these nighttime removals are a bit sneaky, and don't really help install confidence in local politics. Covering up a video camera, doing the removal under a tarp or stopping by at 3 a.m. with a few pulleys and chains in itself suggests an authoritarian or paternalistic stance toward memory. It almost seems as if the state is telling the people, "we don't trust you, so we have to take matters into our own hands." These removals also beg the question, "what happens to these objects once they are removed?" Where are they stored? Who will see them, if anyone? What will replace these statues? How will these replacement objects be received?

I am reminded of a recent article from the Spanish press on the work of Fernando Sánchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970), who created several pieces on the Francoist legacy now showing as part of the PhotoEspaña exhibit. The pieces include 3 photographs, a video and a spinning head of Francisco Franco. In the article, Sánchez Castillo spoke of the difficulties he encountered when hoping to gain access to remnants of the Franco era. In 2002, the artist began a project - really, a sort of campaign -- that involved having several blind friends visit and touch statues of the dictator that had been removed upon the passage of the Law of Historical Memory (2007). However, only one government authority - the Barcelona city  hall -- granted him permission to peruse the dictatorship storage unit. As the artist put it, the challenges he faced show that "we still have a serious problem with our history: we don't know what to do with it."

Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Tactic, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Juana de Aizpuru Gallery. © Fernando Sánchez Castillo

From: The New York Times

June 25, 2010
Statue of Stalin Removed from His Birthplace
By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — Citizens in the Georgian city of Gori, the birthplace of Stalin, woke on Friday to discover that a towering statue of the dictator erected 48 years ago had been removed from the central square during the night, in another potent symbol of Georgia’s rejection of its Soviet legacy.

Georgian authorities took the statue down under conditions of complete secrecy, temporarily blocking the lens of a closed-caption camera that offers a live video feed from the square, according to the online news service civil.ge.

The city was badly battered by Russian bombing raids during the 2008 war, and officials said they would replace the statue with a monument to victims of Russian aggression. Still, the move is likely to anger some in Gori, which vigorously capitalized on its status as Stalin’s birthplace throughout the Soviet era and still offers a range of exhibits and impersonators to nostalgic tourists.