Anti-monuments in Mexico

In Mexico, an antimonumento (Spanish for 'anti-monument') is a structure that is traditionally installed during popular protests. They are installed to recall a tragic event or to maintain the claim for justice to which governments have failed to provide a satisfactory response in the eyes of the complainant.^[1] Many of these are erected for issues related to forced disappearances, massacres, femicides and other forms of violence against women, or any other act of violence.

Anti-monument in honor of the 49 children who were killed during the 2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire. The phrase "Never again" is written in Spanish.

Concept

See also: Anti-monumentalism

The term anti-monument finds its genealogy in the reflections of James E. Young. After World War II, Young looked at "those devices of memory that do not seek to glorify national glory but to do a living memory work through the experiences of the victims", in contrast to the traditional monuments that exalted nationalist heroism.^[1] In Latin America, anti-monuments emerged as a way of dealing through the arts with "the violence of the State, as in the cases of Nazism and Latin American dictatorships".^[2]

In Mexico, anti-monuments have emerged as protest art and a rejection of the state. If traditional monuments are usually installed by the state to last and represent official positions, the anti-monument has the opposite function which "does not imply a denial of the importance of monuments".^[3] That is, it tries to remember those victims who did not achieve justice so that "their cases do not fall into oblivion".^[4] Thus, according to anthropologist Alfonso Díaz Tovar, the anti-monuments arise in this way to "deconstruct" the "official positions through an appropriation of public space".^[4] The anti-monuments have also been interpreted as "a new way of dealing with the new role of memory".^[1] According to the authors of the Antimonumento +43, the first anti-monument, they decided to use the term antimonumento because they considered an error to name it a monumento, as those refer to the past and they did not want the Iguala mass kidnapping to be forgotten. Even though they considered calling it contramonumento at some point, they agreed with the name antimonumento instead.^[5]: 18

Cause and implications

A nail cross placed in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, in memory of the victims of femicide during the 1990s and 2000s. Rosa Salazar considers similar protests as a precursor of the anti-monuments.^[6]

Mexico, in addition to having one of the highest crime rates in the world, also is a country where nine out of ten reported crimes are left unpunished.^[1][4] As a result, anti-monuments have emerged as a way to remember the victims and prevent their cases from falling into oblivion.^[4] For Rosa Salazar, a human rights, communication, and ICT Laboratory coordinator, anti-monuments have a function similar to that of memorials.^[6] Anti-monuments leave behind the idea that aesthetic objects "were only judged by their beauty, according to a given artistic canon". Apart from their aesthetic appearance, anti-monuments are "artifacts charged with affection" that, with their subversive activities in the public space, tend to reinstate its communitarian sense.^[1] For Eunice Hernández, a cultural facilitator, their location is key to prevent the issue from fading into oblivion, since those spaces are emblematic and represent a hegemonic power.^[7]

Government position

Anti-monuments are rarely removed by the authorities once they are established. Although not removing them can affect the image of the government, removing them would imply that they have no interest in resolving the cause of their placement. After being installed, several sit-in groups remain in the area watching over the anti-monuments to prevent the authorities from removing them.^[8] In some instances, some governments have installed their own anti-monuments and in other cases have tried to dialogue with the protesters to decide where or how they should be installed. For philosopher Irene Tello Arista, these actions represent an absence of political commitment to change the situation that originated them.^[9]

Antimonumenta

See also: Grammatical gender in Spanish and Gender neutrality in Spanish

The Antimonumenta in the historic center of Mexico City

The antimonumenta is a type of anti-monument erected to demand justice for the victims of gender violence and femicides in the country.^[9] The first antimonumenta was erected on 8 March 2019, the date commemorating International Women's Day. It was installed on Juárez Avenue, in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in downtown Mexico City during the annual march of women protesting against gender violence. Since then, similar monuments have been installed throughout the country.^[10] The Antimonumenta represents the symbol of the feminist struggle, which is based on the symbol of Venus with a raised fist in the center. The antimonumentas of Mexico City and Guadalajara, for example, are purple. The color represents the history of the feminist struggle: "loyalty, constancy towards a purpose, unwavering firmness towards a cause".^[11]

List of anti-monuments

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Picture	Name[a]	In memory of	Description	State	Location	Date of installation
	Antimonumento +43	The students that were abducted during the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping.	The anti-monument features a "Plus 43" and a "Because they were taken alive, we want them alive!" slogan in reference to the 43 students that were kidnapped as they were traveling to commemorate the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. Six other students were killed.[12] In 2018, a concrete turtle whose shell contains 43 little turtles and whose limbs bear the names of the students, was built in front of the anti-monument.[13]	Mexico City	Esquina de la Información, Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, Colonia Centro	26 April 2015
						25 September 2018
	Antimonumento 49 ABC	The 49 children who died during the 2009 Hermosillo daycare center fire.	The anti-monument has a 49 and the letters "ABC" in reference to the name of the daycare where the 49 children were killed. The daycare was owned by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).[14] Two years later, multiple bronze statues of children's shoes with the names of the victims were placed next to it.[15]		IMSS Headquarters, Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, Colonia Juárez	5 June 2017
						5 June 2019
	#JusticiaABC		49 white crosses with the names of the victims.[16]		Secretariat of the Interior Offices, Abraham González Street, Colonia Juárez	3 November 2020
	Rescatemos a David y Miguel	David Ramírez and Miguel Ángel Rivera, who were kidnapped on 5 January 2012. Although the ransom payment was made, both were not returned and their whereabouts or conditions are unknown.[14]	The plaque calls for padlocks to be placed as a sign of protest.[17]		Esquina de la Información, Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, Colonia Juárez	5 January 2018
	Antimonumento +65	The 65 miners that died during the 2006 Pasta de Conchos mine disaster.	The main anti-monument features a 65 number that supports a plus symbol. The symbol has written a legend that says "With one voice, rescue now!", as well as the names of all the victims of the collapse.[12] The following year, behind the structure, a cage with 63 helmets with the names of the victims that were not rescued was placed; these are buried with charcoal lumps.[18]		In front of the Mexican Stock Exchange Building, Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, Colonia Juárez	18 February 2018
						19 February 2019
	2 de Octubre	The victims of the Tlatelolco massacre	The anti-monument features a white dove and a plaque that blames the Government of Mexico and the Mexican Armed Forces for the massacre.[12]		In the corner of Madero Street and the Zócalo, Colonia Centro	2 October 2018
	Antimonumenta	Victims of femicide	It was placed by mothers and relatives of victims of feminicide, during the march #8M for the International Women's Day.[19]		In front of the Palace of Fine Arts, Juárez Avenue, Colonia Juárez	8 March 2019
	Antimonumenta		It was installed to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the killing of Karla Pontigo Lucciotto and the 60 women murdered between 2010 and 2018. It was destroyed within a month.[20][21]	San Luís Potosí	Plaza de Armas, historic center of San Luis Potosí City	27 October 2019
alt:Two crosses, one erect and the other bent. On the first one is written the phrase "My voice will never die", while on the two there are multiple names written.	Cruz de Vida		It was dedicated to murdered and abused women.[22]	Mexico City	Paseo de la Reforma and Avenida de los Insurgentes	1 December 2019
alt:A park with the sculpture of a symbol of Venus surrounded by several crosses.	Antimonumenta		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to memorialize the women murdered in the state of Mexico.[23]	State of Mexico	In front of the municipal palace of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl	25 November 2019
	Antimonumenta		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to memorialize the women murdered in the state of Jalisco.[24]	Jalisco	Plaza de Armas, Colonia Centro, Guadalajara	25 November 2020
	Antimonumenta (Banca Roja)[25]		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It has a plaque that reads "In memory of all the women murdered by those who claimed to love them or just because they were women" in Spanish.[26]		In front of the Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres, Hidalgo Avenue, Colonia Centro, Guadalajara
	Memorial por víctimas de feminicidio		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It reads "In memory of all the female children, adolescents and women victims of femicide violence. Truth and Justice!" in Spanish.[27]	Hidalgo	Plaza Juárez, Colonia Centro, Pachuca
	Antimonumenta		It was installed during protests where the feminists took the Chetumal Congress. The anti-monument was later destroyed and a replica was installed.[28]	Quintana Roo	Chetumal Congress, Colonia Barrio Bravo, Chetumal	30 November 2020
	Antimonumenta		It was installed during International Women's Day protests.	Veracruz	Parque Apolinar Castillo, Colonia Centro, Orizaba[29]	7 March 2021
	Antimonumenta			Michoacán	Fuente de las Tarascas, Colonia Centro, Morelia[30]	8 March 2021
	Antimonumenta			Veracruz	Port of Veracruz, Colonia Ignacio Zaragoza, Veracruz City[31]
	Glorieta de las mujeres que luchan		The sculpture was placed on the empty plinth of the Columbus Roundabout.[32]	Mexico City	Former Columbus Roundabout, Paseo de la Reforma, Colonia Juárez	25 September 2021
	Antimonumenta		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to memorialize the women murdered in the state of Oaxaca.[33]	Oaxaca	Fuente de las 8 Regiones, Colonia Reforma, Oaxaca City	25 November 2021
	Antimonumenta		It was installed during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to memorialize the women murdered in the state of Yucatán.[34]	Yucatán	Paseo de Montejo, Mérida
	Antimonumenta, Monumenta Viva		It was installed after an increase in disappearances and femicides in the state, including the killing of Debanhi Escobar.[35]	Nuevo León	Government Palace of Nuevo León, Monterrey	15 May 2022
	Antimonumento del New's Divine	The victims killed during the New's Divine fire [es]	It was installed in memory of those killed during the event.[36]	In front of National Palace, Zócalo, Centro	Mexico City	22 June 2019
	Bust of Samir Flores Soberanes	Samir Flores Soberanes [es], who opposed the construction of a federal hydroelectric plant in his community.	One year after his assassination, a bust was placed in the school named after him in the community of Amilcingo, Morelos.[37] The next day, after a related march in Mexico City, a replica of the bust (pictured) was placed in the Zócalo square.[38]	Morelos	Amilcingo, Temoac Municipality	20 February 2020
				Mexico City	Zócalo, Colonia Centro	21 February 2020
	Antimonumento a El Halconazo	The victims of the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre	The monument features a red V and phrases that blame the Government of Mexico for the massacre.[39]		Juárez Avenue and Humboldt Street	10 June 2021
	Antimonumento +72	The 72 migrants murdered during the 2010 San Fernando massacre	It was installed to remember that migration is a human right.[40][41]		In front of the Embassy of the United States Building, Paseo de la Reforma, Colonia Juárez	22 August 2020
	Árbol de la Esperanza	Missing residents of Puebla	With the permission of the Puebla City Council, residents placed photographs of several missing persons on trees in the streets of the historic center. The next day, the photographs were removed to place Christmas decorations.[42]	Puebla	Historic center of Puebla City	5 December 2021
	Glorieta de las y los Desaparecidos	The more than 100,000 missing persons in the country	It was installed by collectives that sought to make visible the numbers of missing persons. The anti-monument was removed by the city government but was reinstalled days later.[43]	Glorieta de la Palma roundabout	Mexico City	8 May 2022
	Antimonumento al Tren Maya	The Mayan jungle and its human and animal population	It was installed by environmentalists protesting against the Mayan Train, which will pass through several jungle zones. The plaque reads, "Here we put on record that in the name of 'development' and 'progress' the Mayan Train was built, evicting people, extinguishing species, devastating the jungle, and threatening ecosystems. Only you, in the future, will be able to say if it was worth it..."[44]	Esquina de la Información, Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, Colonia Centro		23 November 2022
	Antimonumento 5J	The demonstrators arrested during protests related to the death of Giovanni López	It was installed adjacent to the Antimonumenta on the third anniversary of "El Halconazo Jaliciense" when police officers disappeared for hours demonstrators claiming the death of López.[45]	Plaza de Armas, Colonia Centro, Guadalajara	Jalisco	5 June 2023
	Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre	People who were killed or disappeared by the government of Mexico in their struggle to establish a communist government in the country.	Placed during the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre.[46]	Plaza San Andrés, Colonia San Andrés, Guadalajara		23 September 2023
	Antimonumentx	Transgender community	Installed during the International Transgender Day of Visibility, in front of the municipal palace.[47]	Municipal palace, Colonia Centro, Aguascalientes	Aguascalientes	31 March 2024
						31 March 2025
	Antimonumento al desastre de los ríos de Sonora	Ecological disaster in the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers [es]	The tenth anniversary of a Grupo México mining company dumping 40,000 cubic meters of acidified copper sulfate leachate into the Bacanuchi and Sonora rivers.[48]	Plaza Emiliana de Zubeldía, Colonia Centro, Hermosillo	Sonora	7 August 2024

#FueMorena

The sculpture a few hours after the installation. El Caballito can be seen in the background.

#FueMorena (lit. 'Was MORENA') was a temporary political stunt installed by members of the National Action Party (PAN) on the eve of the first anniversary of the Mexico City Metro overpass collapse, where 26 people died. It was installed in front of the Antimonumento +43 at the Esquina de la Información, where Paseo de la Reforma, Avenida Juárez and Avenida Bucareli converge. The politicians described it as an antimonumento and they blamed the National Regeneration Movement Party (MORENA) for the collapse and the lack of justice surrounding the investigations.^[49]

The installation received negative criticism from activists who have placed anti-monuments, considering it disrespectful and an appropriation of their movement for political purposes,^[50] adding, "[t]o them, as to all political parties, we demand respect, that you refrain from looking at the big debts just to win votes. As long as you do not resolve them, you are accomplices of impunity".^[51] MORENA politicians called their PAN counterparts "opportunistic vultures" and called the installation an act of politicking.^[52]

See also

• Mexico portal
• Visual arts portal

• Feminism in Mexico
• Guerrilla sculpture
• Memorial to Victims of Violence in Mexico, a memorial installed by the government in 2013
• Monumento a los Niños Héroes (Guadalajara), a traffic circle in which the city authorities allowed the transformation into a memorial
• Parque de las Mujeres, a park in Puerto Vallarta with a memorial to victims of femicide

Notes

1. Because most of the anti-monuments are unnamed anonymous works, and the press refers to them simply as "Antimonumentos", some names are unofficial and use recognizable elements to distinguish them from other similar works.