The fantasy of mermaids existed in Black and indigenous cosmologies long before Hans Christian Andersen's 19th-century tale.

Representation and cultural narrative do not have to be filtered through the perspectives of Western capitalism to be validated.

Adopting a decolonizing lens allows communities to reclaim storytelling, imagination, and identity.

Iconoclasm is not solely a manifestation of rage but also a way to contest authority and imagine alternative futures.

Throughout history, attacks on monuments like the Little Mermaid statue reveal ongoing struggles over public memory and tradition.

Every act of removal or destruction of a statue carries as much cultural significance as its original creation or veneration.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen has faced multiple deliberate acts of vandalism over the years.

In the latest case, the statue was defaced by someone painting the Russian flag on it.

This is only one among a long sequence of attacks on the iconic Danish landmark.

The debate continues around whether the alteration or destruction of public art is an acceptable form of protest or activism.

Monuments and public art are often critiqued or defaced as a mode of challenging the values and histories they represent.

The question of who is chosen to be memorialized in public spaces is a point of contention in ongoing academic and public debates.

Advocates call for greater transparency and more inclusive commemoration in response to the diverse narratives present in society.

Discussions emerge about how to treat existing monuments that no longer reflect the values or histories of all community members.

Consensus among some experts is that before reintroducing controversial monuments, a period of reflection and contextualization is needed.

Public acts of vandalism are sometimes imbued with spiritual or deeply personal meanings by those who commit or respond to them.

In summary, the repeated vandalism of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen is emblematic of broader debates over iconoclasm, cultural memory, authority, and the evolving narratives that shape public space.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, created by Edvard Eriksen in 1913, has been subjected to repeated acts of vandalism over the years.

In 1964, the statue’s head was sawn off and stolen by political activists who claimed responsibility but the head was never recovered; a new one had to be cast to replace it.

In 1984, the statue’s right arm was cut off and stolen by two young men, but the arm was returned anonymously to a nearby TV station and reattached shortly after.

In 1990, another attempt was made to decapitate the statue, resulting in a deep cut in the neck, but the head remained in place.

In 1998, vandals again succeeded in sawing off the head and it was later returned anonymously to a local television station and reattached.

The statue has repeatedly been covered in paint: in 1961 it was doused in red paint; in 1988 in green; in 2017 it was splashed with red as a protest against whaling; and in 2020 it was painted with the words “racist fish.”
In 2003, the statue was blown off its base by explosives during the night, and it was later restored and reinstalled.

Other incidents include the dressing up of the statue in various costumes by pranksters and protesters, as well as repeated graffiti on and around the site over the decades.

Most perpetrators behind these acts have either remained anonymous or have acted as political or artistic demonstrators, using the statue as a symbol for varied causes.

Despite restoration and ongoing surveillance, the Little Mermaid remains one of the most frequently vandalized monuments in Denmark, reflecting its global status and cultural significance.

Over the years, the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen has been subjected to repeated incidents of intentional damage and acts of vandalism, making it one of Europe’s most targeted cultural landmarks.

The statue was decapitated for the first time in 1964, with the perpetrators never officially identified, but it is widely suspected to have been an act by political activists protesting the status quo.

In 1984, the right arm of the statue was sawed off and stolen by unknown vandals, and later returned anonymously to a nearby TV station.

The statue’s head was again removed in 1998, this time found by police days later, with the act attributed to a group of radical artists named 'The City Destroyers,' who claimed responsibility to draw attention to the commercialization of Copenhagen’s public spaces.

The Little Mermaid has also been doused in paint or tar on numerous occasions, including red paint in 1961 and 1963, green in 2006, and white in 2017, with vandals often using the statue to make political or social statements.

In 2003, the statue was blown off its base using explosives and toppled into the harbor by unknown individuals, drawing international media coverage and condemnation from city officials and local citizens alike.

Several incidents involved slogans or graffiti being painted on or near the statue, such as in 2004 when 'racist fish' was scrawled, and again in 2017 when Danish nationalist slogans appeared, both acts reportedly linked to debates over immigration, identity, and national symbols.

Acts of damage also coincided with international movements: for example, in 2020 the base of the statue was marked with 'Free Hong Kong' during the Hong Kong protests, and in 2022, 'RIP Queen Elizabeth' graffiti was painted in response to the British monarch’s death.

While arrests have occasionally been made, such as after a 1998 decapitation attempt, most perpetrators remain unidentified, with their motives ranging from political protest, artistic statements, to social commentary and international solidarity.

Throughout its over 100-year history, Copenhagen authorities have frequently repaired the Little Mermaid, sparking ongoing debate about the preservation of public art, the symbolism of cultural landmarks, and the contested meanings they accrue through cycles of vandalism and restoration.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, created by Edvard Eriksen and unveiled in 1913, has been repeatedly targeted by acts of vandalism over the years.

In 1964, the statue’s head was sawn off and stolen by politically motivated artists, leading to widespread public outrage; the head was never recovered and a new one was made.

In 1984, the statue’s right arm was cut off by vandals, but the arm was later returned anonymously and reattached.

In 1990, another attempt was made to decapitate the statue, but the damage was less severe, only leaving a deep cut in the neck.

In 1998, the statue was beheaded once more, with the head later found and restored to the body.

Besides physical mutilation, the statue has been subjected to various forms of defacement, including being drenched in paint several times, often as a form of protest or political demonstration.

For example, in 2006, the statue was covered in green paint by activists protesting Denmark’s involvement in the Iraq War.

In 2017, the statue was doused with red paint by animal rights activists opposing whaling practices in the Faroe Islands.

Other incidents include dressing the statue in costumes, such as burqas or football jerseys, to make political or social statements.

Throughout its history, the statue’s repeated vandalism has sparked debates in Danish society about its symbolism and the motivations behind such acts, ranging from political dissent to general acts of rebellion or mischief.

Despite security efforts, the open location of the Little Mermaid on the Copenhagen harborfront has left it vulnerable to further attacks.

Each act of vandalism has led to restoration work to preserve the statue as a cultural landmark, though some fear repeated repairs could cause irreversible damage.

The ongoing series of attacks continues to raise questions about public art, societal values, and the balance between protest and respect for cultural heritage.

The fantasy of mermaids existed in Black and indigenous cosmologies long before Hans Christian Andersen's 19th-century tale.

Title:

Content: Actually, Black Mermaid Folklore Has Been Around Long Before Disney’s The Little Mermaid

The moment I feel even remotely vulnerable —be that the fragile morning after an inhibition-free night, the familiar shiver of cold and flu symptoms or the helpless pit of despair that engulfs me when my mental health begins to plummet —you’ll find me curled up on the settee, under a protective layer of blankets, shamelessly watching movies filled with childhood nostalgia. Movies like Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) have sat firmly in this arsenal of self-care classics ever since I can remember, enveloping me in a carefree hug at a moment's notice.
But movies that transported me to a place of innocence and ignited my imagination without having to strain to envision myself within these fantasy worlds, however, are in short supply. As a dual heritage Black kid growing up in the 90s, opportunities to feel represented in my escapism were limited. Slightly too old to be impacted by Disney’s Princess and the Frog, I found meaning, and myself, in classics such as Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella (starring Brandy, Whitney Houston and Whoopi  Goldberg) and Motown’s The Wiz (an adaption of the Wizard of Oz starring Diana Ross and Micheal Jackson). It’s for these reasons that I am unashamedly excited for Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, in which Ariel is played by Halle Bailey.
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There’s no shortage of discourse on representation politics, the ongoing need for fairer representation in the media we consume and the ways the lack of it impacts people of colour of all ages. This importance can be felt most viscerally via a quick TikTok search of The Little Mermaid where endless streams of reaction videos showcase the unadulterated joy of Black children when seeing the latest trailer.
Move over to Twitter, however, and you’ll likely be bombarded by bigotry and bias. The hashtag #NotMyAriel is trending amongst outrage and disgust at a Black actor being cast to play a fictional character. To quote writer and academic Saidiya Hartman, “So much of the work of oppression is policing the imagination”, and whilst simultaneously comical, embarrassing and triggering to witness, this backlash served as a reminder that no matter how frivolous our sources of joy may be, whiteness will attempt to steal every ounce of it.

The fantasy of merpeople lived in the cosmologies of our Black and indigenous ancestors long before Hans Christian Anderson coined his fable in the 19th century

In decolonizing our imagination —  by challenging the Eurocentric erasure of Black and Indigenous wisdoms, creativities and experiences —we’re able to recognise that whilst the remake of The Little Mermaid is important to many (myself included), we can also find ourselves represented in our own cultural storytelling, folktales and mythologies. We don’t need to rely on the white gaze of Western capitalism to feel seen and heard. In letting go of that gaze, we are reminded that the fantasy of merpeople lived in the cosmologies of our Black and indigenous ancestors long before Hans Christian Anderson coined his fable in the 19th century, and certainly before Disney offered our generation a capitalist mascot in their 1989 animated adaptation.
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“All children, irrespective of race, creed, religion, deserve to see themselves reflected in books and films. We owe it to their self-esteem, to their creativity, to their imaginations. The imagination of a child is boundless, and it is the imaginations of this current generation of children that will ultimately provide solutions to some of the most pressing crises faced by the world today,” writer and doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge, Mary Ononokpono tells Unbothered.
A final year doctoral candidate, Mary’s ongoing research into the lives of coastal Biafran women during the Atlantic Age and Age of Abolition has sparked an informal interest in the ways that pre-colonial African communities were informed by a belief in and fear of water spirits. Known colloquially as ‘Orishas’ or ‘Ndem’ these deities were thought to have been sent by a supreme or higher god to populate, protect and service the earth, and continue to be worshipped today.
“Racial injustice is ultimately rooted in historical illiteracy. If people don’t understand how we got to this point as a society, injustice will persist. In that respect, the decolonization of the cosmologies, mythologies and folklore of Black Atlantic societies has a really important part to play” she continues.
Some pre-colonial water spirits include Yemaya — a goddess of the ocean, who, legend has it, created the seven seas. Believed to be a fierce protector of women, this water spirit is still worshipped across the world,such as by those of Santería faith in Cuba who were transported across waters during the transatlantic slave trade. It is said that to connect with Yemaya, holding a shell to our ears will carry her messages in the sound of waves.
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Another pre-colonial deity is Oshun, the goddess of divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty and love. Considered to be one of the most powerful orishas, she’s both heralded as the nurturer of humanity and feared as a benevolent being, whose earthly punishments come in the forms of floods and droughts. In Nigeria, annual celebrations continue to take place along its Oshun river, where pilgrims pay homage, make sacrifices, and ask the deity to grant wealth, health and happiness. Often depicted in yellow robes, Oshun is rumoured to be the ethereal muse behind Beyonce’s numerous works, referenced in both the lyrics and symbolisms of her visual album Lemonade and her ode to the African diaspora, Black is King
Photo by YAMIL LAGE/AFP/Getty Images.
A follower of the Orisha sea goddess Yemaya, of the Yoruba religion, gives offerings at Havana's harbour during the Yemaya Day celebrations in Cuba
Elsewhere in Brazil, the Tupi people celebrate Iara, commonly referred to as “the Lady of the Lake”. A great warrior who was betrayed by her brothers, Iara is a water spirit with a princess-like origin story — minus the damsel in distress trope. Often likened to other South American tales of sea witches and goddesses, over time Iara manifests in recent imaginations as a merging of the two, feared and revered for her power to lure men to the bottom of the ocean.
Perhaps one of the more infamously depicted deities however is Mami Wata.  Also known as  Watramama or ‘Mother of the Water’, this water spirit is part human, part fish, and is often depicted as interchangeable genders. Considered to hold the important role of blessing the souls who died at sea, Mami Wata has held cultural and religious significance to the African diaspora for centuries. Mami Wata is celebrated in festivals such as the Epe-Ekpe festival in Togo for example, and is commemorated across multiple artforms; from exhibitions in the Smithsonian and Knockout Centre to featuring as the protagonist in Natasha Bowen’s young adult fiction, Skin of the Sea.
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Another work of fiction which draws sources from Indigenous histories is Monique Roffey’s The Mermaid of Black Conch, a book I have read and reread numerous times. Here, Aycayia, a mermaid of Taíno legend, who has the lower torso of a fish and a human upper torso adorned in tribal tattoos, is reimagined. Drawing inspiration from the Taíno population who inhabited Hispaniola (now the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and were made extinct after being ‘discovered’ by Christopher Columbus in the 15th Century, Aycayia’s tale is one of colonialism, displacement, belonging, love and violence.
Photo by Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images.
Entrance to the Shrine of Oshun, the water dwelling fertility goddess of the Yoruba religion in southwestern Nigeria
It’s through the honest and respectful retellings and reinterpretations of pre-colonial imaginations that diasporas of colour of all ages can truly see ourselves represented. As an avid wild swimmer who has always felt an affinity and attraction to merpeople despite being relatively disinterested in fantasy and sci-fi genres, I feel more at home in these nature-adoring narratives that offer an insight into my heritage than I ever have in any Disney movie.

Chantay is a London-based tattoo artist who specialises in Black depictions of ethereal deities. Her merpeople, fairies, cupids and nymphs sit amongst rockpools, toadstools and flowerbeds, sporting voluminous afros, cascading dreadlocks and woven cornrows.

It's for these reasons that I’d always craved a mermaid tattoo, but after one wildly uncomfortable experience involving a white tattooist and a failed attempt at depicting afro hair, I’ve been cautious of finding an artist who could dream up a mermaid that actually looks like me. So, when I stumbled across Chantay Blue’s Instagram I was overjoyed! Chantay is a London-based tattoo artist who specialises in Black depictions of ethereal deities. Her merpeople, fairies, cupids and nymphs sit amongst rockpools, toadstools and flowerbeds, sporting voluminous afros, cascading dreadlocks and woven cornrows. Earlier this year, I had the honour of getting one of Chantay’s merpeople inked on my forearm. There she sits, glistening as bubbles rise around her, her billowing curls trailing to the part of her waist where scales meet skin.
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Catching up over Zoom, Chantay and I discuss her approach to tattooing — itself a form of expression rooted in Indigenous practices that predates colonialism — and its revolutionary potential to reclaim a sense of identity and belonging.  “When you get artwork tattooed on your skin you want something beautiful, something that reflects what beauty is to you, but most of the time we’re only offered images of white faces and features,” she says.
“All this does is reinforce the same beauty stereotypes that were forced on us in stories about merpeople and fairies when we were growing up. It doesn’t sit right with me, that you go for a beautiful tattoo and a white artist inks another white person on your arm or leg,”  she continues, “I want people to be able to see their own beauty in my tattoos — it helps me feel beautiful when I’m drawing these stunning creatures that look like me too. I think it speaks to my inner child who was always into mermaids, but never saw myself in them.”

Through a decolonizing lens we can reclaim our voices, stories, perspectives and imaginations and enjoy a blockbuster movie for what it is...

Whether through feature-length movies, fictional novels, tattoos, exhibitions, music or oral histories, when we are able to access ourselves in our own cultural storytelling, we’re reminded that we never needed the approval of whiteness to do so. With the racist rantings of grown adults on social media reframed as inconsequential white noise, we can also relinquish ourselves from the politics of representation, and no longer rely on white-dominated industries to dictate when and how our valid need to feel seen is met. Much like the ways that Ursula steals the voice of Ariel in the classic story, the commercialised capitalist legacies of colonialism silence the narratives of our ancestors. Through a decolonizing lens, we can reclaim our voices, stories, perspectives and imaginations and enjoy a blockbuster movie for what it is, without feeling uncomfortably reliant on it to speak to our sense of self. So, whilst you’ll most certainly find me tucked up on the sofa, my cat secured in the little spoon position, embracing the 2023 remake with childlike wonderment, I can’t help but wonder: wouldn’t it have been nice if we could’ve seen the tales of our own water spirits — Aycayia’s, Mama Wata’s or Oshun’s perhaps — depicted on the big screen too?
This article was originally published to Unbothered UK

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Representation and cultural narrative do not have to be filtered through the perspectives of Western capitalism to be validated.

Adopting a decolonizing lens allows communities to reclaim storytelling, imagination, and identity.

Iconoclasm is not solely a manifestation of rage but also a way to contest authority and imagine alternative futures.

Title:

Content: Smashing statues

Iconoclasm isn’t just an expression of anger. It’s how we try to make new worlds.
February 17, 2023
(Source image from Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

Sometimes, bored indifference can sting worse than outright hostility. I was telling a friend about my present book project, The Storm of Images, which concerns the iconoclasm struggle in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries. In my view, it’s a pivotal moment in the definition of Eastern and Western Christian traditions, so I was somewhat deflated when my friend asked, in effect, Why on earth would you want to do that? It’s so long ago, and the whole story is, well, Byzantine, a word that through the centuries has acquired plenty of negative baggage.

Fortunately, I was able to articulate a response that went beyond the simply defensive. In fact, I would argue, the whole story of iconoclasm is of perennial significance, a fact that should be as obvious today as in any previous era. Not only is smashing images an absolutely standard and recurring part of what societies do, but it is a fundamental part of religious sensibility, and by no means only for Christians. Simply put, it’s the way that we try to make new worlds.

Image smashing arises from two distinct impulses. Some iconoclasm grows out of hatred of a particular individual or the beliefs and causes that they represent. Here the smashers are striking at the figures represented, seeking to purge their memories as evil and unwanted. Such were the attacks on Soviet and communist images following the collapse of the Eastern bloc in 1989. More recently, in the United States, we see assaults on statues of Confederate heroes such as Nathan Bedford Forrest or Robert E. Lee. Through attacks on objects, activists are attacking the larger causes represented by those images. The United States has, since 2020, experienced a historically very sizable and socially transformative outbreak of iconoclasm, which has been echoed around the world.

Other smashers may truly venerate or love the individuals depicted, but they reject the depiction itself. In this category, far from condemning the figure represented, activists are driven by the exalted view that they have of that person, and they are rather agitated by the very notion of representing them in material or visual form. Such representation is thought impossible, the attempt evil or blasphemous. Any form of worship or prayer directed at objects is unacceptable, and it is futile to draw distinctions between worship and veneration, of praying to a material thing as opposed to praying through it. This attitude, this rejection of material images as such, was a fundamental driving force in the European Reformation—one at least as important as any particular theological doctrine of any given thinker.

The smashing of images is commonly one sensational aspect of a larger package of religious innovations, often of a quite revolutionary character. These tenets might include an assertion of inner spirituality over external or material symbols, along with perhaps a stern rejection of institutional religion or professional clergy.

Iconoclasm coexists intimately with anticlericalism. It is a rejection of existing notions of authority and a quest for whole new groundings, free of the claims of tradition. Depending on the context, the destruction of religious images can be an assertion of the supremacy of secular authority, of kings and governors over bishops and priests. The fact of destroying supposedly sacred objects—and remaining unharmed—sends a powerful message about the futility of those objects. If they are so potent, why can they not even protect themselves?

For both categories of iconoclast, their achievement lies not in destroying a given statue or altarpiece but in asserting the power to do so, against the power of the old order that hitherto had been its shield and defender. To strike at a statue or image—to bring down a Confederate general—is also to attack the institutions or individuals that erected those figures in the first place and who support their maintenance. It is a symbolic statement of who controls the visual landscape.

Moreover, the mass public violation of older taboos and restraints proclaims the impotence of that old guard. The fact that authorities no longer have the will or ability to prevent the removal of such once-cherished things in itself proclaims the end of an old world and the creation of a whole new order of society or politics. It is zero hour.

Even when the matters at issue are ostensibly secular, such acts of protest often acquire a ritualized format, which has echoes of enthusiastic or revivalist religion. Scenes of the removal of statues or images unforgettably proclaim these moments of revolutionary transformation. They are deliberately theatrical. In a modern context, visual representations of such acts of destruction become iconic in their own right. In their power to teach values, the acts of removal or destruction are as didactic as the images they are combating.

Making images is a perennial and fundamental component of the human religious experience, and so is crediting them with supernatural powers. But no less common is the practice of critiquing or destroying them. Sometimes we commemorate people’s faces; at other times we deface, and with equal passion. In order to be balanced and objective, a hypothetical museum of global religions should properly include its share of hacked and defaced icons, of fragments of toppled and shattered statues. The never-ending dialogue between the two competing approaches, the smashers and the devotees, has often driven religious thought and artistic expression.

John Calvin famously declared that “the human mind is a perpetual factory of idols.” I would adapt that to say that, time and again, history proves that the human mind is a powerful factory of image breaking, of iconoclasm.

Throughout history, attacks on monuments like the Little Mermaid statue reveal ongoing struggles over public memory and tradition.

Title:

Content: Russian Flag Painted on Copenhagen's Most Famous Landmark

It's the latest in a long line of attacks on Little Mermaid statue
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2023 10:15 AM CST

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, one of Denmark's most famous landmarks, has been vandalized yet again, this time with the Russian flag. Authorities said Thursday that the white, blue, and red stripes of the Russian flag were painted on the stone the statue sits on, Reuters reports. Police said the vandalism was discovered early Thursday. "We are of course launching an investigation to find out who did it and when and how it happened," a police spokesman said, per Jyllands-Posten.

Denmark, like other European nations, has strongly criticized Russia's war against Ukraine. The small statue, a tribute to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, sits off a waterfront promenade in the Danish capital. It has been vandalized many times since it was installed 110 years ago, AFP reports. It has been decapitated twice and was knocked off its base with explosives in 2003. In 2017, it was doused in red paint in a protest against whale hunting. In 2020, during worldwide protests after the death of George Floyd, the words "racist fish" were painted on the base, though Andersen scholars said they weren't aware of any racist elements in the fairy tale. (Read more The Little Mermaid stories.)

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Every act of removal or destruction of a statue carries as much cultural significance as its original creation or veneration.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen has faced multiple deliberate acts of vandalism over the years.

In the latest case, the statue was defaced by someone painting the Russian flag on it.

This is only one among a long sequence of attacks on the iconic Danish landmark.

The debate continues around whether the alteration or destruction of public art is an acceptable form of protest or activism.

Title:

Content: In recent months, a surge of environmental activism has spread across the art world, with campaigners going to extraordinary lengths to raise awareness about climate change and environmental issues. However, some environmental activists are resorting to destructive techniques, such as defacing artworks and disrupting art exhibitions, provoking controversy and discussion in the art community. While their commitment to the environment is admirable, the question remains: are these behaviours crucial, or do they harm the exact same cause they are trying to promote?

One of the latest incidents that sparked this debate involves a group of environmental activists infiltrating a renowned art gallery and splattering red paint on a collection of significant and valuable artworks. As well as damaging a well-known and valuable target such as Vermeer’s Girl with A Pearl Earring; the protesters are urging us to evaluate our values and principles.

Climate activists from the “Just Stop Oil” organisation used glue and red liquid paint to deface Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece in protest of the rising expense of living and the climate issue.

The event occurred in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague in October 2022, where the artwork is on exhibition, and was captured on film.

Their message was clear: Art must serve the catastrophic nature of climate change and the devastating effects of human activity on the environment. The eco-activists engaged are motivated by a desire to raise awareness about the climate change catastrophe by shocking and perturbing, the role of big oil in hastening environmental deterioration, and the urgency to save the planet.

Safeguarding cultural legacy

Nevertheless, the art community responded promptly and severely. Many others denounced the activists’ destructive behaviour, claiming that there are more constructive methods to increase environmental awareness without resorting to vandalism. The vandalised artwork, some of which were irreplaceable pieces of art, was viewed as the casualties of an irrational and futile protest that harmed the very cultural legacy they wanted to safeguard.

While the intentions of these activists may have been admirable, their techniques have raised serious concerns about the ethics of protest and the limits of advocacy. Is it acceptable to sacrifice art for the cause of environmental activism? Can the objectives genuinely justify the means when it comes to raising awareness about critical global issues?

Some in the art community expressed empathy with the campaigners’ objective whilst questioning their methods. They claim that art is a global language that crosses borders and ideologies and that defacing paintings simply alienates potential allies in the fight for the preservation of the environment. There are worries that such behaviours could harm the credibility of the environmental movement and overshadow the importance of the message they are attempting to express.

On the contrary, some supporters of the activists believe that dramatic actions are required to break the complacency and indifference that frequently dominate climate change discussions. By defacing paintings and interrupting art exhibitions, activists bring the subject to the forefront and demand attention to a cause that is frequently overlooked or minimised in popular discourse.

Furthermore, by staging their stunts in public galleries, where many visitors have mobile phones, activists could be confident that footage and images of the acts would receive instant attention. By using non-corrosive materials and minimising damage to the works under attack, they avoid the public outrage that wilful destruction would elicit.

Distinct ethical quandaries

In their opinion, the shock value of such activities is a powerful instrument for sparking change and rallying public support for environmental protection. They target to appear to ruin something that people respect and connect with culture. Their idea is that if we don’t have a planet, we will lose everything we appear to cherish the most.

The controversy regarding environmental activists’ methods in the art sector is not new. Throughout history, artists and activists have utilised artistic expression and civil disobedience to oppose injustice and promote social change. However, the purposeful defacement of artwork presents distinct ethical quandaries that call into question traditional conceptions of activism and protest.

As the art world deals with the consequences of these activities, it is critical to participate in a dialogue that balances the preservation of cultural and artistic legacy with the importance of addressing environmental concerns. While environmental activists’ purposes may be laudable, the techniques by which they strive to attain their objectives require careful study and criticism.

In conclusion, recent occurrences of environmental activists defacing paintings and disrupting art exhibitions have sparked a debate at the nexus of art, activism, and environmental issues. While their commitment to the environment is valuable, some activists’ techniques have generated ethical concerns and separated the art world.

As the debate continues, all parties must engage in a constructive discourse that respects the importance of art while also recognising the critical need for environmental action. Ultimately, the challenge is to strike a balance that acknowledges both the cultural tradition of art and the urgent requirements of environmental advocacy in an increasingly interconnected and vulnerable world.

Maram Saleh, a Bahraini law student, finds inspiration in the realms of research and writing.

Monuments and public art are often critiqued or defaced as a mode of challenging the values and histories they represent.

Title:

Content: Advertisement

How do we deal with controversial monuments that are also part of Vancouver's history?

While there were a variety of views, the consensus is a cooling-off period might be the best solution before reintroducing controversial works and explaining the context in which the art was created.

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Statues have been in the news a lot lately, not because they’re shining examples of public art displaying the best of humankind, but for the racist and colonial concepts they’ve come to symbolize.

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What to do with them, though: Should they be destroyed? Hidden from view in a dusty backroom of a museum somewhere?

A panel of local art experts tackled that question on Feb. 10 and, while there were a variety of views, the consensus was a cooling-off period might be the best solution before reintroducing controversial works and explaining the context in which the art was created.

“A Columbus statue, for example, needs to be put away for awhile,” said Angela Clarke, director and museum curator at the Italian Culture Centre Gallery and moderator of the public-art panel. “We need to acknowledge he was not a good person.

“I think there’s a lot of negotiation with that and we need to reflect on how we present these things thoughtfully.”

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It may surprise a lot of people that for years the PNE was home to a statue of a young Columbus, a gift from the Italian sailor’s hometown of Genoa called The Dreamer, until it was removed to storage early last year after several acts of vandalism and a threat to decapitate it.

Or how to explain to tourists milling around the statue of Gassy Jack at Maple Tree Square that the saloon keeper who gave his name to Gastown that, at age 40, he married a 12-year-old Indigenous girl who, after giving birth to a son, ran away at 15?

Or a bust of Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator who was Adolf Hitler’s ally in the Second World War, that was once displayed at the Italian Cultural Centre.

It was that Mussolini bust by Charles Marega, an immigrant sculptor from Italy who anyone crossing the Lions Gate Bridge heading north will know of from the lions adorning the Stanley Park side of the bridge, that eventually wound-up leading to last week’s panel discussion.

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“It started as a celebration (of Marega), then became more of a roast, and then at the end it was a bit of an excoriation in a way because you’re starting with this figure who really brought a lot of dignity to the Italian community at a time when there was a lot of racism toward that community,” Clarke said. “Marega was this elegant, artistic figure who was commissioned to do all these amazing things and he was popular because he was bringing all these European ideas like Beaux-Arts here.

“As time has gone on, as much as we are staggered at how wide-ranging his influence was in public sculpture here in Vancouver, at the same time there’s so much that’s questionable about the things he did.”

For one, his very notion of what public art was for was diametrically opposed to what we consider its purpose is today, Clarke said. Marega’s idea was public art should represent the corporate culture of the city and that that is what people in the community not only expected, but also wanted public sculptures to reflect.

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“There was no sense of questioning the status quo and of course the lions on the bridge, as beautiful and majestic as they are, for an Indigenous person … ”

The bridge lions aren’t mountain lions, after all, they’re symbols of Britain and its aristocracy, and the peaks they’re named after had a name — Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwikn, the Twin Sisters — long, long before contact with Europeans.

But do we destroy the statues? Take them down and store them?

Panel members had several thoughts:

“There really shouldn’t be a blanket statement across the country, or across the province,” Ammar Mahimwalla said.

Mahimwalla now lives in Victoria but for five years until 2018 he was the special projects adviser with Vancouver Biennale.

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“My sense personally, using artwork for cultural monuments as learning tools is definitely important,” he said.

Growing up in India, a lot of colonial history was officially erased, practically overnight: Cities were renamed, statues were taken down and placed in “museum graveyards where nobody would really go visit them.”

“Which is worse in some cases,” he said, than keeping the art front-and-centre to remind people of what not to repeat.

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The question of who is chosen to be memorialized in public spaces is a point of contention in ongoing academic and public debates.

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Content: Navigation

Who decides who is put on a pedestal?

Monuments in public spaces are a politically charged issue, with closed circles of experts often making decisions about who or what gets memorialised in Switzerland. In an opinion piece, a group of academics and curators argues that the time has come for greater transparency and new types of commemoration.

This content was published on February 27, 2022 - 10:00
Philine Erni, Sarah Grossenbacher, Rachel Huber and Vera Ryser

The Swiss women’s strike in 2019 and the Black Lives Matter movement that began in the United States in 2020 have helped to raise questions about the politics of memory in Switzerland. In the country’s public spaces, there is an absence of memorials to women, people with migration experience and people of colour.

The authors

Philine Erni is an art and literary academic and will be part of the management team of Theater Winkelwiese in Zurich from the 2022/23 season.

Sarah Grossenbacher studied history, sociology and spatial planning and is co-head of urban planning at the City of Lucerne.

Rachel Huber has a doctorate in history. She researches and teaches at the Department of Modernism at the University of Lucerne and is co-founder of the Historians' Network Switzerland.

Vera Ryser is a freelance curator, exhibition organiser and literary academic. Among other things, she co-initiated the project Das Wandbild muss weg!External link (The mural must go!).

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Instead, it is mostly white male figures standing on pedestals of bronze or stone. For decades – centuries, even – they have represented Swiss progress, innovation and success. What’s often overlooked is that their success and wealth are built on, among other things, the exploitation of indigenous peoples, the keeping of slaves or their support for the slave trade.

Various voices have demanded that statues of such figures be transferred to museums or re-interpreted and their hidden stories be revealed and displayed.

The year 2021 marked 50 years since Swiss women obtained the right to vote. Many academic conferences and media reports, such as one in the German-language NZZ am SonntagExternal link newspaper, took stock of progress made in that time: roughly 70% of artworks shown in Swiss museums are by men; nine out of ten streets named after a prominent figure are named after a man; and women go largely unmentioned in history books.

The need for a diverse culture of remembrance is clear. But how can such a polyphony be taken into account when dealing with the existing monuments in public spaces?

Who decides? And why is there no public discourse?

Depending on their significance, existing monuments in public spaces fall under the responsibility of either city or cantonal heritage authorities. But deciding which structures can receive heritage status – and therefore become officially part of public remembrance – is the responsibility of heritage conservatorsExternal link. Normally these decisions come without public consultation, even in the case of public monuments that hold great symbolic and political significance.

Thanks to political pressure, in the city of Zurich a working group (Kunst im öffentlichen Raum or Art in the Public Space) is examining 26 statues, while the historian Georg Kreis is looking at “just under 40 monuments”External link. These studies are generally welcome, but they still raise questions: Who are the experts in this case and who is being brought on to offer advice? And why is there no public discussion, despite there being a highly political question at the core: how do we as a society want to remember the past?

Regulations exist primarily on the protection and preservation of monuments. Even artworks commissioned for public spaces are created for eternity, barring damage. Can activism alone prompt a swift removal? Vandalism can touch a nerve, but it only solves the problem of unbalanced representation in public spaces in a selective way. As seen with demands since the 1970s from feminists that public squares and streets be renamed, little has changed structurally: the demands are far too seldom complied with to this day.

Yet involving locals in a discussion is both possible and sensible. In recent years, many municipalities have gathered experience with participative processes. These have taken many forms: surveys, roundtables and workshops, even games and guided tours, both digital and in person. Why aren’t these forums being used to talk about public monuments?

What must we rethink or unlearn?

At this point, it is worth taking a look at the current restitution debate, where the art historian Bénédicte Savoy and the economist Felwine Sarr have called for a “gesture of restitution” with considerable success. “Gestures of removal” or “completion” could serve as a good starting point for a new approach to memory culture. They could also contribute to a new type of relationship between segments of society that are over-represented and those that are under-represented – one that gives a sense of community and belonging.

This approach would be based on the view that history, too, is “in constant flux,” as the historian Achim Landwehr puts it: the past, present and future are all related and historical narratives are constructs of the present-day perspective. This concept of history inevitably calls into question today’s assumption that monuments are valid for eternity.

To forge a new culture of remembrance that’s fit for our times, cities and towns need to actively promote a new type of relationship in public spaces, not just to protect their monuments, but also to renew them. The recent call to supplement the statue of David de Pury in Neuchâtel with works that will initiate a critical dialogue about the original statue of the Swiss banker and slave trader, and the Zurich project group to combat racism in public spaces show that Swiss cities are beginning – albeit slowly and within the constraints of existing structures – to take an interest in a new remembrance culture.

This new culture requires existing specialist juries to relinquish their power and make way for more participative strategies and greater transparency. This way it would be possible, at last, to anchor our towns’ public spaces in the present and distance ourselves from the misunderstanding that “heritage” should serve as a lasting commemoration of a system bequeathed to us by the past.

Existing statues would be complemented by achievements and realities that are part of our society but are not memorialised in public spaces – and therefore remain invisible. They include women, the LGBTQ community and people of colour as well as subjects that remain socially taboo: forced labour and Switzerland’s policy on foreign seasonal workers, for example. One pre-requisite for a diverse, intersectional culture of commemoration and remembrance would be that these “others” can participate in political, legal, institutional and cultural life.

Anyone who wants to contribute to this must work on visibility. It starts with basic research. And we have to establish different and more current forms of remembrance: “edit-a-thons” (where authors create articles collectively on neglected historical women for the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia) or hashtags such as #metoo and #blacklivesmatter. Perhaps these are examples of a future memory culture: they are participative and digital, ephemeral and volatile.

(Translated from German by Catherine Hickley/gw)

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of SWI swissinfo.ch.

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Advocates call for greater transparency and more inclusive commemoration in response to the diverse narratives present in society.

Discussions emerge about how to treat existing monuments that no longer reflect the values or histories of all community members.

Consensus among some experts is that before reintroducing controversial monuments, a period of reflection and contextualization is needed.

Public acts of vandalism are sometimes imbued with spiritual or deeply personal meanings by those who commit or respond to them.

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Indonesia

Indonesian fishermen save Virgin Mary from the sea

Act of vandalism is being seen as an 'event of faith' by Catholics

Catholics pray in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary saved from the sea. (Photo: Handrianus Atagoran)

A statue of the Virgin Mary that was reportedly dumped in the sea by a mentally ill man in Indonesia was rescued from the sea by fishermen in an incident that has moved Catholics to look at it through the lens of faith.

The statue was found by two fishermen in a bay near Lewoleba off Lembata, an island just east of the Catholic-majority island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province, on Nov. 24.

A video recording the moment they retrieved the floating statue went viral on social media and became a widely discussed topic among Catholics.

Rudi Keraf, one of the fishermen who found the statue, said at first he thought it was driftwood and his first reaction was to ignore it.

"But then something told me differently. My heart said I had to go back. It turned out that what we found was a statue of the Virgin Mary," he told the news portal Kupang.tribunnews.com.

He said the statue was intact, in an upward position and in her hand was a rosary.

It's interesting that although people already know where the statue came from, Catholics see it as an event of faith

After lifting the statue onto the boat, he and his companion embraced it and prayed. "I was very moved. I am a sinner but I managed to find a sacred object," he said.

Handrianus Atagoran, a Catholic in Lembata, said it was discovered that the statue had come from the grave of a priest in a coastal village which was taken by a mentally ill man and thrown into the sea.

"It's interesting that although people already know where the statue came from, Catholics see it as an event of faith," he told UCA News.

"People are queuing to come and pray at the statue, which is currently in the house of the fisherman who found it."

Some consider this as a warning that the region will be hit by a natural disaster, he said, adding that most see it in a more positive light as a sign of providence.

Also Read

In summary, the repeated vandalism of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen is emblematic of broader debates over iconoclasm, cultural memory, authority, and the evolving narratives that shape public space.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, created by Edvard Eriksen in 1913, has been subjected to repeated acts of vandalism over the years.

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Bulat Gilvanov: “Our elite buys paintings somewhere in Monaco ”
“I am disappointed in the idea that culture can be promoted in contact with the national elite.
In order for this trend to change, some tectonic changes must occur, ” says artist Bulat Gilvanov.
He spoke about the lack of Tatar visualization in Kazan, feminism, the Tatar imperial concept and many other things in an interview with Tatar-Inform.
Bulat Gilvanov: “We have a creative potential and a powerful legacy.
But the elites don ’ t know what to do about it. ”
Photo: © Ramil Gali / Tatar-inform
“Even Namdakov quite superficially revealed the topic ”
- Bulat, we would like to talk to you about the Tatar culture through the eyes of a representative of the urban Tatar intelligentsia.
So let ’ s start with specific city stories.
Many Kazan residents and tourists have an opinion that Kazan lacks a Tatar visual.
Do you agree?
And how can this be corrected taking into account, perhaps, the Soviet experience, when various paintings, smalt panels on national themes were popular?
- I agree, such a visualization in Kazan is not enough.
I would like to have a feeling that this is the capital of Tatarstan.
We ourselves declare this, we want to broadcast our national culture as widely as possible both in space and in time, that is, in the future.
In the guise of the Kazan Kremlin, this task was solved, otherwise we see the standard style of modern architecture for many cities.
I don't even know what to call it... post-industrial, I guess.
This, of course, is beautiful and spectacular, I myself like this constructive beginning - glass, graphic lines.
On the facades of sports facilities, shopping malls there is often some interesting decorative solution.
- Do you mean this literalism, when, for example, a tennis racket sticks out from the facade of the Tennis Center?
- Yeah, including that.
That is, there are such things, but I do not remember that there was a national moment in them.
Apparently, there is no understanding that the architectural solution of facades and silhouettes can be revealed with a national bias.
Well, such a task for architects, most likely, is not set.
I do not know who is doing all this, probably Moscow, and until recently European architects.
Perhaps, and therefore, national in these projects is not enough.
- As, say, in the projects of the same Dashi Namdakov.
"Natsmena", but also not a Tatar.
- It's the same story.
Dashi Namdakov is an absolutely wonderful artist, I like him very much, but it can be seen that he did not immerse himself in the topic.
I mean, he does what he does, that's all.
Are you talking about “The Cup ” and the sculptures around it?
- And about the sculpture "Karakuz", installed in Almetyevsk.
It's the theme of the warrior girl that I've been promoting all my life.
This image eventually took a strong place in the national consciousness.
Indeed, there is in the legends such a character - Karakuz, this is an associate of Altynchech.
The sculpture is also beautiful, but again it can be seen that there was no study of the Bulgarian costume - military, national.
Still, I ’ m all for it, she ’ s, again, beautiful, and the topic is right.
However, as you can see, even Namdakov quite superficially revealed the topic.
The cup is the same.
The same dragons and leopards originate from the ancient Turkic animal style, but even this style here, on the Volga, differed from, for example, Siberian.
Was it less aggressive?
- Yes.
Remember the story of Namdakov ’ s “Guardian ”.
Why did it happen?
The sculpture itself is simply gorgeous, but there was an instruction to increase it.
The author increased it, and it became creepy.
Size does matter, though.
The artistic image in a monumental form and in the form of a small statuette is perceived differently.
“I do not see a gap between the Volga Bulgars and modern Tatars ”
- You mentioned the female warriors, and indeed, the appeal to the female image for some reason in the form of valkyrie seemed to have become a common place in the Tatar fine arts.
What does this have to do with it
I often think about it myself.
Is it necessary to promote it, is it not something...
- Artificially?
Not artificial, but harmful.
Just now feminism, which we all once welcomed, is taking on extreme forms, and it can turn into something bad.
Do you want a connotation with feminism?
- No, I wouldn't.
Of course, it is impossible to be against the movement for equality and social equality of the sexes.
But there are physical differences, there are traditions, and they arose for a reason.
They make sense just for the survival of the human race.
- So your warriors - what are they?
Feminine?
- Oh, yeah.
Some even reproach me - she can not, they say, the girl to hold such a weapon, it is unbearable for her.
I just had that task.
At least, I saw these legends through a certain contrast, dissonance: here are warm, fragile girls who are completely unaccustomed to war, and now they are forced to take up cold weapons and stand up for the defense of the Motherland.
The image of sacrifice intensifies, and the feat becomes doubly special.
That is, there is an additional tragedy, an additional conflict.
Let us now turn to your obvious sympathy for the Bulgarian subject.
I noticed that the interest in it, as well as the tendency to identify with the Bulgars, is common among the creative intelligentsia.
Historians have a different opinion.
What do you conditionally answer to a historian who tells you that the Tatars are the heirs not so much of Volga Bulgaria as of other historical periods?
- I have studied this issue and do not see a gap between the Volga Bulgars and modern Tatars.
We speak the same language, we live on the same land, we celebrate the same holidays.
Nardugan, Karga Botkasy, Kaz Omase and Sabantuy are all pre-Islamic Bulgarian holidays, there is no Mongolian component.
In Kul Gali ’ s poem “The Tale of Yusuf ” the same language, some parts of it in the original are even more natural and understandable than the modern literary translation.
Kul Gali wrote before the Mongol conquest in his native language.
Are you sure it ’ s a Bulgarian language?
- Of course.
I don't think the scribes wrote anything in another language.
Some manuscripts indicate that there are two editions of the poem - 1212 and 1233.
Perhaps in 1233, Kul Gali supplemented and processed it.
In any case, he was an eyewitness to six campaigns of the Mongols on Volga Bulgaria until 1236, when it fell.
By the way, I have such an illustration in one of the books.
Here (shows): the author writes that this was composed by the weak servant of God Ghali in such and such a year, in each line he put 22 syllables.
Here is the Bulgarian city, here is Idel, here are the Mongol warriors who are already knocking at the gate.
There is an assumption that Kul Gali died during the Mongol pogrom in Bilar.
Our language has not changed.
As well as our self-consciousness, way of life, basic activities.
The famous historian and archaeologist Alfred Khalikov in private conversations was unequivocally for the Bulgarian version.
“The Russians have a strong association of the Horde with evil, existential threat ”
But these conclusions he voiced in that period, which can be called Tatar historical romanticism and which is long over.
- Yeah, but it's not just Khalikov.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century, when our people were still self-determining, Bulgarism was considered as the main version.
In addition, there is no such potential for confrontation in Bulgarism as in Tatarism.
The Bulgars have been living together with the Russians since the time of Kievan Rus, this state was built and defended by the Slavic and Turkic peoples together.
Berendeys, Kovuys, Torks are all Bulgarian subethnic groups.
Khan Kubrat founded ancient Russian cities, including, according to some sources, and Kiev.
And especially Poltava, where his bet was.
That is, we have coexisted with the Russians throughout their history.
At the same time, the Russians have a strong association of the Horde with evil, an existential threat.
So the Tatar imperial concept is ultimately destructive.
The Russians and I will continue to live together.
The ideologists of Tatarism present bulgarism as an idea that aims at stripping the Tatar people, at its division, but in fact it, if you look at it, has a collective beginning.
I think that the surviving Volga peoples would well accept the Bulgarian idea of   joint existence.
Because, apparently, there was something in the Bulgarian tradition and in the Bulgarian state, which allowed these peoples to survive and live to this day.
– Do you think the Tatars will return to the Bulgarian project?
- I hope so.
It seems to me that our people have yet to make a choice in the future.
– Do you feel that the number of supporters of your concept has increased or decreased over time?
- I think they're getting smaller.
At least in the 1990s, the Bulgarian movement was much more powerful.
All the movements were more powerful.
- Oh, yeah.
If then a referendum on renaming was announced and there was some discussion in the media, thanks to which ordinary citizens would simply think - usually they still live their lives, I do not exclude that they would vote for renaming the TASSR in the Bulgarian Republic.
– When you are called a Tatar artist, it does not cause internal protest?
- No, I am calm about it, maybe even ironic.
I do not lead such a confrontational line as some people in the Bulgarian movement, who rigidly separate themselves from the Tatars and conflict.
“They buy a painting in Monaco for a lot of money to show off at their party ”
A few years ago you said that the art market in Tatarstan is undeveloped.
Has anything changed during this time?
- There are positive aspects, but in general, the trend continues.
There is no stable community in which, say, collectors who know artists work.
Everything happens quite casually.
Paintings are usually bought either on occasion - as a gift, or spontaneously, simply because the thing liked.
There is no such thing as a buyer to study which artists we have and what is worth buying and what is not.
Although it is not difficult to find information now, everything is on the Internet.
It is not necessary to communicate directly with artists, experts or read reference books.
However, this is not the case.
Maybe the Tatarstan elite is interested in our art, understands it?
For the vast majority, probably not.
I am deeply disappointed about this.
Maybe that ’ s why I moved away from exhibitions and projects, from all this movement.
What exactly is the disappointment?
- The idea that culture can be promoted in contact with the national elite.
If something happens to her, it happens as a result.
Roughly speaking, he went somewhere in Monaco, saw something there, he liked it, and he wants the same.
“Do me the same. ”
Or he ’ s lucky right there to show off in his party: here, he took a picture in Monaco, paid a lot of money.
How to change this trend, I don ’ t know.
Apparently, there must be some tectonic changes, something must move in the heads, in public relations.
Because we have creative potential and a powerful legacy, but there is no understanding among the elites of what to do about it and whether there is any benefit in it.
Maybe it just needs to change a generation?
Their children are different, it's a story about a 300-year-old lawn.
- I am not sure, by the way, that if their children studied conditionally in England, they will come with something else in their head.
Well, maybe on rare occasions.
I don't think that's the solution.
I don't know what the solution is.
They should have the understanding that they draw their wealth and power from a national source and that it is a guarantee of the preservation of all this.
But there is no such understanding yet.
So I just stick around and do what I have to do, and whatever happens (laughs).
Let it be unprofitable.
Have businessmen or officials ever bought your paintings?
- Officials do not, and businessmen, although very rarely, bought.
Tatars are a rare case.
Although, in theory, the paintings of our artists can be approached purely utilitarian, decorating their premises and offices.
This is good for business, for the future, and artists will be able to survive and do something else.
There will be a rich field of national culture, it will become denser, better.
At the very top of this understanding, perhaps, there is.
Mintimer Sharipovich is noticeable, if not admiration, then at least respect for art.
Apparently, he somehow sees and feels this beauty, understands its value.
It was the same namdakova he took.
This is either an innate understanding, or it comes from the fact that in Soviet times, art was presented as a really valuable and sublime thing.
“I don ’ t think that the Tatar culture is hermetic ”
Let ’ s move on to the Tatar culture as a whole.
There is an opinion that it is quite hermetic.
- You mean self-obsessed?
Ah, yes.
And that it has no connection with the world cultural context.
Can you say that about painting?
- No.
In general, I do not believe that the Tatar culture is hermetic.
We had a very powerful Jadidic movement that kind of released our culture into the world.
Many even criticize him for this, because such a step, in their opinion, pushed the Tatars to assimilate.
No, our culture, including the visual arts, reacts quickly enough to the global context.
Is there contemporary art in Tatar painting?
Is there any activism there?
- I won ’ t say about actionism, but there is modern art.
There is, for example, Tatar ethno-futurism.
His study, as well as the study of the Tatar avant-garde, was carried out by Yulduz Galimzyanovna Nigmatullina.
She published the book “Late Modernism in Tatar Literature and Fine Arts ”.
This phenomenon is explained there, modern Tatar artists are considered in the context of world art.
But modernism is still late.
What artists are we talking about?
- About modern us, about my acquaintances.
Basically, there is about the Tamga group, which was engaged in the development of the national language.
It consisted of Magyar Khaziyev, Khamza Sharipov, Riyat Mukhametdinov, me.
Kostyak Chelninsky, although there were Ufa artists.
Recently, we do not exhibit, but at one time we actively exhibited and participated in various projects.
All these artists are now alive and well, working outside the group, independently.
In general, we had quite a strong movement at the time.
And there are good, original artists now, including in Kazan.
A bright representative is Ilgizar Khasanov.
A beautiful modern artist, a modernist with a national foundation.
You're friends with Alfrid Shaimardanov, aren't you?
- Yes, at one time and worked in the same workshop, and lived together.
Is it true that artists don ’ t consider him an artist?
That ’ s what he says (laughs).
He is an artist, of course.
When considering his candidacy for the Union of Artists, voted in favor, although there were those who spoke of his "amateur".
Well, he's a real nugget.
It is believed that Bucky Urmanche was very strong as a sculptor, but as a painter he is overrated.
What do you think of that?
- Yes, no, he is a really gorgeous, very versatile artist.
He is recognized both as a classic of the realistic school, and as the creator of an original national language.
And his painting is the most beautiful.
It is painting as such, that is, the interaction of warm and cold colors.
This interaction is like music, it is very difficult to achieve it in painting.
Here is the actual music gets directly into the heart, a person immediately understands it and perceives it, but with painting it is not so.
To achieve music, an artist needs to develop this skill.
“In my youth I thought: I have everything accurately conveyed in the picture, why is there no musicality and beauty? ”
How did it go to you?
- It's very hard.
I finally understood this music quite late.
Even in school I felt that I had a misunderstanding of painting.
I perceived color only as a certain characteristic of the object, as something that needs to be conveyed accurately and realistically.
And the understanding that this is the same “wavelength ” that beats directly into the heart came much later, with practice.
Some people, especially women, get it right away.
We had girls in school who felt painting.
I ’ ve seen them do things differently.
Seems crooked, but beautiful.
And I thought: I have everything accurately conveyed in the picture, why is there no musicality and beauty?
On the subject of female artists.
My daughter entered an art school this year, and as a father, I would like to understand where a young artist can go to work today to feel normal.
I will offer you options, and you will evaluate them.
All right?
The first, the most obvious: to paint paintings and sell them yourself at online auctions.
- Yes, an option.
The second is to offer your services in the cinema as a production designer.
- In principle, the cinema is now being filmed in Tatarstan.
I myself recently called from Tatarkino, offered to participate in their project this autumn.
But I apologized and refused – I did not have time.
I was involved in several film projects and it was interesting.
So that ’ s also an option.
The only thing is, we don ’ t have a lot of movies.
But it is a specific thing.
But you can go to Moscow and get involved in the work, for example, as a decorator, learn all this cuisine and only then pretend to be a production designer.
Or start as a costume designer.
- Yeah, that's it.
There are a lot of theatres in Kazan.
Another option is to draw manga.
Can we monetize it somehow?
- I think so.
Publish in the form of books or monetize via the Internet.
I guess it's possible.
And the last option is to paint urban objects, including private ones.
- Of course.
Listen to you, it turns out like a chocolate story.
I mean, the young artist is all right with perspective, right?
- Yes.
There are other options.
You can do animation.
Maybe there will be something related to the Internet.
However, there is a question with artificial intelligence, those who are engaged in it can take out design orders.
But, I think, only purely utilitarian.
No artificial intelligence can illustrate a book as thoughtfully, artistically, and beautifully as a human being.
To do this, you need to live your human life, use the human experience, your sense of the culture to which the writer belongs.
A relative of mine recently told me about artificial intelligence and said that soon I will be out of work.
I was scared at first, and then I thought and realized that he should think about it.
Because writing programs and applications to artificial intelligence is much easier.
Gilvanov Bulat Alfirovich is an artist, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia.
Born in 1972 in Elabuga.
He graduated from the art department of the Naberezhnye Chelny School of Arts, the graphic faculty of the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.E.Repin.
Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Tatarstan named after M. Jalil.
In 1999 – 2001 – teacher of the Department of Fine Arts of Naberezhnye Chelny State Pedagogical Institute, in 2001 – 2005 – artist-trainee of the creative workshop of the Russian Academy of Arts in Kazan.
In 2011 – 2014 – lecturer at the Kazan branch of the Moscow State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after V.I. Surikov, in 2012 – 2018 – assistant at the creative workshop of painting of the Russian Academy of Arts in Kazan.
Since 2018, he has been a freelance artist.
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In 1964, the statue’s head was sawn off and stolen by political activists who claimed responsibility but the head was never recovered; a new one had to be cast to replace it.

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Content: In Russia, Marmorica Luca was stolen
From the mountain park "Ruskeala" in Karelia stole his symbol, the statue of Marmoric Luke
In the famous Russian mountain park “Ruskeala ” in Karelia, the statue of Marmoric Luke, a man who is the main symbol of the tourist complex, has disappeared.
This is reported on the page of the park in “Vkontakte ”.
Employees of the complex said that the main Marmoric, the “owner ” of the mountain park, who“ always received guests with great love, respect and warmth ”, was stolen.
The incident was called an act of vandalism and theft of someone else ’ s property.
"We would like to remind you that the consequences of vandalism can be very serious, because it is a crime that causes material and moral damage," the statement said.
Staff warned that the culprits would be brought to justice.
At the end of May, in another Russian city, Ufa, the famous monument to Mite Valera was stolen - the culprits were two graduates of a local school.
The object was considered the smallest monument in Russia.
It was a silver-molded figure of a tick, mounted on a pedestal with the inscription “I just, like you, want to live! ”.
It was not possible to return the monument, but less than a month later a new monument appeared on the site of the Valera Mite.
It was decided to call him Valery II Valerievich.
The good tape is deactivated.
Welcome to the real world.

In 1984, the statue’s right arm was cut off and stolen by two young men, but the arm was returned anonymously to a nearby TV station and reattached shortly after.

In 1990, another attempt was made to decapitate the statue, resulting in a deep cut in the neck, but the head remained in place.

In 1998, vandals again succeeded in sawing off the head and it was later returned anonymously to a local television station and reattached.

Title:

Content: Arguments of the Week Society 13 +
The Most Bold Attempts on Great Works of Art
, 19: 21
“Art is born only from grief, ” said Chuck Palahniuk, showed Van Gogh and now agrees everyone who considers himself a connoisseur of art.
You don ’ t have to cut off your ear to be heard.
Practice shows that, perhaps, art is born in suffering, but it often becomes popular with the help of an unconscious PR campaign of wretched vandals.
In this article, about why Leonardo da Vinci ’ s Mona Lisa became so popular, Munch ’ s Scream was no more important than the Olympics, and the Yeltsin Center guard became both the creator and the defendant.
Ivan Vasilyevich changes the profession, or the author's view of art.
If from the very foundation of the Yekaterinburg Yeltsin Center, the museum was attacked by criticism of Russians who noticed the distortion of history in the project, now the sower of “intrigue, scandal and investigation ” was the guard of the cultural center.
The first working day of the employee decided to celebrate, leaving a mark in the history of the branded ballpoint pen Yeltsin Center.
This day was the last on the post of the guard of the gallery.
The incident occurred at the exhibition "The world as objectivity.
The Birth of New Art ” in the Art Gallery of the Museum.
Assessing the symbolism of the name of the exhibition, the employee of the private security company painted the eyes of two silhouettes in the painting “Three Figures ” by Anna Leporskaya – a student of Malevich – worth 75 million rubles.
The motive for his action is unknown.
After the damage to the picture, the man went home and for several days did not get in touch - "very worried" because of what happened.
His former colleagues suggested that this was nothing more than a “clouding of the mind. ”
The final touches to the picture were put by the guard on December 7, 2021.
At first, the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to initiate a criminal case, calling the damage caused insignificant.
Today, a criminal case was opened against the guard under the article “Vandalism ”.
A creative employee faces a fine of up to 40 thousand rubles, corrective labor or arrest for up to three months.
So, a 60-year-old employee of the private security company can become an involuntary PR-agent, because the picture of a student of Malevich today appears in all media, and the case of an artistic experiment with a ballpoint pen will remain in history.
"...
A Gioconda to be stolen.
and stolen. ”
In the distant 16th century, the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo ordered a portrait of his wife Lisa Gerardini from the famous Leonardo da Vinci at that time.
Today, she looks at visitors to the Louvre through thick glass, mesmerizing with a barely noticeable smile and a mysterious look.
However, the masterpiece was not so popular until its abduction from the Paris Museum in 1911.
A museum worker is again involved in the attempt on the painting.
However, everything is much more serious here: the Louvre employee Vincenzo Perugia was able not only to remove the picture and carry it out under clothes, but also to keep it in the apartment for two years - the main hit of Leonardo da Vinci during this time was under the stove, in the closet, and in a suitcase with a double bottom.
The police distributed on the streets of Paris almost seven thousand copies of photos of the Mona Lisa - this helped in the search for a masterpiece and made it possible to distinguish the original from a fake.
So the picture began to gain recognition, which was heated by the coverage of the robbery in many media.
Screaming lawlessness.
Edvard Munch was the man who unsuccessfully seeks peace of mind, escaping by writing pictures.
He called the process of creativity a cure for one ’ s own thoughts.
It is terrible to imagine that Munch caught the day when his most famous work will be considered less interesting than the Olympic Games.
However, the artist was lucky, the incident occurred in 1994.
February 12.
The National Gallery of Oslo is deprived of the painting “Scream ” by Edward Munch due to no less national – on this day the opening of the Winter Olympics in the Norwegian city of Lillehammer was broadcast.
The solemn event was observed by the museum staff, not paying attention to the alarm.
At this time, the bandits entered the gallery through the window with the help of a stepladder and in 50 seconds took the “screaming ” picture from the audacity of the robbery.
The thieves left no trace, except for a note addressed to employees: “Thank you for the poor security. ”
Munch's work was found only two months later.
Today she is the record holder in Norway for the number of thefts.
Thus, masterpieces of painting are not always born out of suffering, but they may need to go through this suffering for further public recognition.
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The statue has repeatedly been covered in paint: in 1961 it was doused in red paint; in 1988 in green; in 2017 it was splashed with red as a protest against whaling; and in 2020 it was painted with the words “racist fish.”
In 2003, the statue was blown off its base by explosives during the night, and it was later restored and reinstalled.

Other incidents include the dressing up of the statue in various costumes by pranksters and protesters, as well as repeated graffiti on and around the site over the decades.

Most perpetrators behind these acts have either remained anonymous or have acted as political or artistic demonstrators, using the statue as a symbol for varied causes.

Despite restoration and ongoing surveillance, the Little Mermaid remains one of the most frequently vandalized monuments in Denmark, reflecting its global status and cultural significance.

Over the years, the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen has been subjected to repeated incidents of intentional damage and acts of vandalism, making it one of Europe’s most targeted cultural landmarks.

Title:

Content: Dear reader, if you are walking in your car, then you find “bandits ” who stood in front of you, slept in front of the wheels and prevented you and prevented people from passing, or if you are in a museum and surprised by a group of people destroying and breaking art paintings or painting the exhibits in orange...
Don't think you're in front of an armed terrorist group.
These people are often “environmental activists. ”
Environmental activists seek to make a positive impact on the planet and the environment, but not through planting trees, but through the easiest way to balance from their point of view: to subvert art, paint and destroy monuments and artifacts and disrupt the movement of people in the streets, in order to balance the economy and the environment.
This may sound crazy dear reader, and remind you of the story of the sieve who criticized a needle because it has a hole!
But this is the view presented in the market of environmental struggle...
Either you accept it or you are not deep enough!
When art becomes a victim of the green struggle, there is no doubt that we are faced with a dilemma similar to the dilemma of having a preacher on a beach, wearing a green shorts, to preach to the redhead blonde with the red bikini...
Either way, you are faced with a mystery of modern civilization.
The article would have stopped here, but I finally got to know a critical school of fiction and art that not only analyzes texts, words and drawings, but evaluates works of art based on their environmental impact, meaning that a painting painted by your favorite artist may be guilty of polluting the environment, and you, him and the museum should be held accountable for that.
As environmental criticism intensifies, environmental literary critics emerge — as if the morgue is missing bodies — and many wonder if art and environmental criticism can coexist peacefully.
Can we find a way to make art more sustainable and environmental without the need for subversive works?
In the end, the aim of this article is not to make environmental criticism a mockery, but to question the actual solutions to environmental problems, rather than to direct efforts towards art subversion.
Is this the right path to change?
Or does environmental criticism need to rethink its strategies?
Environmental criticism may have come up with a noble idea, but the way it is applied is so controversial and ironic, we can use art as a means to spread environmental awareness and promote sustainability.
Ultimately, art and environmental criticism must coexist peacefully, as both seek a better and more sustainable future.
Anything that does not mention God ’ s name.
Amputation.
A short story:
Why did you steal the painting from the museum?
Preserving the environment, sir.
Preserving the environment...
How? How?
Thief: It has artificial colors that pollute the environment, and its stools are cut from a tree that was cut last month...
I wanted to send a message to the world that art that does not respect the environment must be removed.
Officer: Greetings to your brain Balanat, O Sea of Science, O Sea of Concept, O Philosopher of Donkeys!
@ moh1alatwn @

The statue was decapitated for the first time in 1964, with the perpetrators never officially identified, but it is widely suspected to have been an act by political activists protesting the status quo.

In 1984, the right arm of the statue was sawed off and stolen by unknown vandals, and later returned anonymously to a nearby TV station.

The statue’s head was again removed in 1998, this time found by police days later, with the act attributed to a group of radical artists named 'The City Destroyers,' who claimed responsibility to draw attention to the commercialization of Copenhagen’s public spaces.

The Little Mermaid has also been doused in paint or tar on numerous occasions, including red paint in 1961 and 1963, green in 2006, and white in 2017, with vandals often using the statue to make political or social statements.

In 2003, the statue was blown off its base using explosives and toppled into the harbor by unknown individuals, drawing international media coverage and condemnation from city officials and local citizens alike.

Several incidents involved slogans or graffiti being painted on or near the statue, such as in 2004 when 'racist fish' was scrawled, and again in 2017 when Danish nationalist slogans appeared, both acts reportedly linked to debates over immigration, identity, and national symbols.

Title:

Content: Political sweeping and before it cleansing and fogging and dropping idols and loyalty to the homeland and the inclusion of all joints and differences
Jassar Saleh Mufti
Sources familiar with the movement within the Islamic Dawa Party said that the current leadership has so far failed to reunite itself, in light of its lack of a plan or project that can be relied on to attract public support, specifically from the young segments.
The Lebanese newspaper “Al-Akhbar ” said in its issue today, quoting those sources, that the leadership of the party was faced with three options“ bitter dreams, and will lead in one way or another, in the end, to the decline of the party star. ”
The first of these options is to call for the election of a new leadership, including members of the Shura Council (50) and the Political Council (11), provided that these 61 are young people, while historic leaders retire, advisers are retained, and then the reform process begins.
But this proposal collided with the possibility of the failure of the new leadership to promote itself, and the possibility that it will take years to achieve a breakthrough interaction in the Iraqi street.
The second option was to postpone the conference, so that the current leadership could mature its vision for the future of the party and its mechanisms of work, but the problem that emerged in this context was the possibility of failure of the stakeholders to produce a “draft vision ”, which means that the party will automatically enter a“ clinical death ”, in light of its inability to produce new leadership on the one hand, and crystallize its project on the other.
As for the third option, in which the “call ” seems to be proceeding, it is the convening of the General Conference before the middle of this year, although“ the date has not been set yet, because the preparations for it need more time, ” in the words of one of the party leaders.
According to the newspaper's information as in its report, the leadership of the "call" is expected to re-elect itself, with limited change in a number of sites in favor of young faces at the expense of current faces.
The congress will be followed by a workshop on reforms of the party ’ s organizational structure, and a paper outlining the party ’ s vision and project.
The information indicates that the latter scenario was developed after consulting regional parties that advised to maintain the unity of Dawa, which was also recommended by the circles of the supreme religious authority (Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani), which prefer to keep the map of political parties in its current form, especially within the Shiite House...
It can no longer be complicated. ”
In the midst of this, and in light of the party ’ s lack of a broad mass base that can rally around it in its ordeal believing in its principles, and not in its ability to secure jobs for those who want them, the opponents of the “call ” bet that the moment of the last“ split back ” is near.
A bet based on a number of factors, starting from the loss of the party ’ s position as prime minister, which it has monopolized for 13 years, through suspicions about its leaders regarding involvement in corruption and its generalization, to the failure of the party to promote itself on the one hand, and the formation of its historical leaders parallel parties on its banks, eat of its popularity, and invest in its street.
A few weeks ago, satellite channels and various social media circulated a scene of a lawmaker accused of corruption, trying to escape the large crowds, which were chasing him near the parliament building, and after he was arrested by the angry, he was carried and put in a garbage container.
Regardless of what this (Ukrainian) MP did, he certainly did not come to do what some of the Iraqi politicians, who sit in the chairs of responsibility and governance at the top of the pyramid?
Where the order reached some of them to be a tool of the external agenda, which wanted and want to flood Iraq with chaos and instability, and resolve sectarianism, but they were a tool of terrorism Daeshi and before him the base, by providing political and legal cover for killers and criminals, taking advantage of their access to the customary or legal immunity granted to those in the legislative or executive power.. Incubators of domestic or imported terrorism (if you will).
This is through material, moral and media support for all tendencies hostile to the political process in Iraq after the US occupation, and what happened in the sit-in squares and platforms, which preceded the Iraqi June setback in 2013.
And supported by the senior leaders of the parties in the provinces of the Sunni Arabs, to conclusive evidence of what I say, where the aforementioned squares and their platforms, which are notorious and notorious, turned into a headquarters and a corridor for the dispersion of horizons and preachers of Satan, and even to kill innocent soldiers unarmed of weapons, and under the sight and hearing of the crowds present, and amid the cries of (Takbir) Daeshi. And prepared in advance in the corridors of the intelligence of regional countries brother and friend of Iraq, to bring down the political process in it, and turn back the clock.
But by the grace of God, and the fatwas of the great references, and the energy of the honorable people of the popular crowd and the security forces, disappointed and lost their bets, and the magic turned on the magician.
The process of political sweeping must start preparing for it from now, coinciding with the liberation and cleansing of the occupied territories from ISIS.
By showing the facts and holding accountable the wrongdoer, the negligent, the corrupt, the thief and the forger, in every detail of the Iraqi state and under any title held by this violator of the law, regardless of his religion, nationality and doctrine, terrorism is not the only one that brought us to what we are in political, economic and social crises.
But it was part of a large series of mistakes, which accumulated and magnified and produced calamities and impurities on this wounded country, especially the system of (quotas), which we have suffered since the fall of the previous regime until now.
It is a call to the people of the areas hit and occupied by terrorism, in Mosul, Anbar, Salahuddin and Diyala.. To tell those who elected them and brought them to the top of the political pyramid: Stop the conspiracies, intrigues and false pretensions, which brought Iraq, especially your provinces and their inhabitants to what happened and is being destroyed and ruined. To tell the leaders there that we are part of Iraq, and that the preservation of the rights of the smaller country does not prevent the granting and preservation of the rights of the larger country.
And that they should treat their partners in the homeland as a partnership of brotherhood in destiny, not as the partnership of the merchant who threatens to break the partnership at all times, and for what reason?
Remember that a tree, no matter how high or large, is fixed by its roots, not by the length of its branches or the abundance of its fruits.
It is an invitation to the people of the center and the south to tell their leaders and representatives: Expose the corrupt and the theft of public money, expel them from their positions and jobs that you gave them, and clean your parties of some ignorant climbers and parasites who abused or abused parties that had the honor of fighting injustice and dictatorship.
It is a call for all the Iraqi people to be loyal to the blood and souls of the martyrs, which flowed every day over the holy land, the land of Iraq, to defend it and liberate it from the desecration of terrorism.
Is there a responder??
Before we look at the political sweepers that abound these days, it was necessary to consider the sweepers themselves and the extent of their ability to sweepers that they promise once they win the elections and become prime minister.
The sweep promised by its current advocates will be limited to removing the vestiges of the ruling party, the National Congress alone.
Of course, this process of sweeping will only be carried out by those who will take over the reins of power from the competing parties, and thus qualify him to sweep what he deems necessary from the ruling party, and keep what he wants.
These parties calling for sweeping others, it is regrettable that they did not reach a conclusive opinion on the way to reach power, which is not possible to achieve except through the next elections, as these parties are still in a state of continuous “rot and rot ”, whether they will accept to contest those elections or boycott them?
Every morning there is a new opinion for these parties.
The latest, the memorandum sent to the Presidency of the Republic, demanding the postponement of the elections until next November, the amendment of laws related to freedoms, the formation of a national government, and the restructuring of the National Elections Commission, and then gave the Presidency one week to respond to their demands or they will work on « Hijwa or Dbaybina », boycott the elections.
We ask these parties what is new in these demands that they have been demanding from time to time, especially the idea of the national government, which did not find the least amount of acceptance, let alone respond to any official of the National Congress, and some of them described the demand as an attempt to reach power without effort is to run elections to despair of winning them?
Therefore, we are determined from now on not to pay attention to this memorandum by the Presidency of the Republic, which will be seen as a game to waste time, which the President of the Republic, the candidate of the National Congress for the presidency, is investing in his readiness to compete in the elections, and will not waste him in words and demands that are impossible to achieve.
Moreover, the preparations for the elections have gone a long way, and have cost everyone a great deal of effort and money, which is difficult to replace or obtain again, especially for the same parties calling for the postponement of the elections, which complain to the bricks of the earth of their impotence, poverty and lack of power.
Then how do they expect that the National Elections Commission will be dissolved now, and has been patient on their part since its formation and announcement and throughout the previous period, until they discover today the lack of impartiality and bias of the National Conference that formed it, discovered « Yadoop » now and then they saw the call to dissolve and reconstitute it, without explaining who will reconstitute if not the same National Conference?
What we admire is the continued threat of these parties to boycott the elections, as if someone would care about it after it was repeated more than once and without taking action.
These parties, called more than one name, Juba parties or the parties of the alliance or the parties of the national consensus, which are still running behind the mirage, demanding all impossibilities, some of them have gone out on them and become exposed, especially as the parties that have gone out of importance so that any action they threaten in case of failure to respond to their demands will be worthless in the absence of solidarity of the parties that reject them, especially the popular movement. She calls for this, after her candidate for the presidency of the Republic has made all those strides in his readiness to run.
As long as there are large parties, such as the Popular Movement, which will not accept the boycott, or the Popular Congress, which explicitly announced that it will not boycott the elections, the threat of boycott by the alliance will become useless, but will be in the interest of the National Congress, as we have said before, because the competition will decrease, especially when competitors with heavy weight such as the National Umma Party candidate.
This is, of course, assuming that the Juba parties will indeed boycott the elections, despite their reputation for saying what they do not do, if their demands sent to the presidency of the Republic, which of course are not and will not be answered, and we fear that the decision to boycott from the end of this week, the date that was set to be taken, will move to a new date, as we are used to each time.
These parties in all this « Jihaja » talk about the idea of   sweeping the effects of the Salvation Government, although the sweep of the impact of any government must be through the election fund, so that the party gains the seats that qualify him to sit on the seats of power after the removal of his predecessor, and not otherwise, although we reject the use of the word sweeping from its basis, because it is used to get rid of dirt, and we will not make any of any of any of any of any governments no Although there is political dirt that deserves to be swept away, such as corruption, nepotism, injustice and others, the generalization of the act without discrimination greatly harmed the idea.
We heard the subject of sweeping the monuments of the regimes for the first time in 1985 after the fall of the May regime, when Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi launched the idea of sweeping the monuments of May then, and began to implement it after he came to power.
Unfortunately, the synagogue practiced by Mr. Sadiq al-Mahdi did not exceed the removal of the foundation stone of some of the buildings built by May, which is considered one of the most distinctive effects left by May, such as the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, under whose roof he continued to announce his call to remove the effects of May, as well as the People ’ s Assembly in Omdurman and many others.
We said then that to erase the effects of any system, if this idea is accepted, is only to leave what is more valuable than it and not to remove the name of the person who made it.
Monuments in all parts of the world are one of the most important things that must be preserved, without any tampering with it either in its form or content, so that this helps in the process of recording the history of the country and sequencing it without interruption for the sake of future generations.
The positive history of the country is not required to be recorded and overcome the negative, so as not to create gaps in that history.
If May has its mistakes, which it has like any other system of government, it does not mean that the May era of the history of the country removed that mistake, but it is required to reverse its mistakes with all the honesty and honesty required, at the same time that its positives are reflected with all honesty and honesty as well.
We have not heard of the removal of the effects of any judgment by those who follow it, except for those of us who are accustomed to the creation of adversity.
In the context of the removal of the monuments of May, some have tried to change the names of some places that bear their name, and to name them others, and this attempt is considered a political theft that should not be practiced.
But the Sudanese people, who do not miss such plots, insisted on using the real name despite the nose of change.
Moreover, the removal of any trace of the effects of May means misleading the new generation, which has not lived with it and therefore does not know the facts, and has the right to know all that surrounded it negatively or positively, and when some facts were hidden from him after their removal, what he knows of the history of Sudan and the march of governance in it becomes wrong.
The call for removal also included people who worked for, or collaborated with, the system.
Their removal was similar to the referral for the public interest practiced by the current Salvation Government, but it is amazing that the same people who were swept within the ruins of May and thrown into the dustbin of history are the same people who were used by Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi, the owner of the idea of   sweeping, and placed at the top of his institutions in the Umma Party.
Therefore, we do not find any justification to return to this slogan, was it on the part of Imam Sadiq al-Mahdi or those who took in his tradition from others, vacuuming the regime is impossible to achieve as long as the rule of that regime or Fasrat, vacuuming means removal, which is not possible to do any of the vacuums of the world.
Mr. Sadiq al-Mahdi spent most of his years of rule preoccupied with sweeping the effects of May, and did not succeed until the third democracy was completely swept by the coup of June 1989.
Therefore, we did not hope that His Excellency would repeat the same series to become the sweeping of the effects of the rescue, among the priorities of his electoral programs, although he was excluded from sweeping bridges, bridges, dams and roads of course.
And the question becomes, what will be swept away by the effects that do not include all of this?
I do not believe that it is possible to remove the effects of a rule that has been in power for two decades and more, and wherever the citizen turns, he finds a trace of its effects.
Therefore, it is desirable that the idea of   removing errors become in the style of government and some of its practices, and that everyone move away from this story of removal of monuments.
In the style of government, discrimination among citizens must be eliminated because of loyalty to the party, for example, or preference of kin over others.
The success of any party in achieving justice among citizens alone is enough.
We say this because there are some of the leaders of the other parties have started to raise the same slogan, sweeping the traces of the National Conference, and before these parties sink in the face of that slogan, we hope that they will overcome it and talk about others, as the days have proved its failure and futility.
I believe that the attempt to sweep the effects of the regimes is what encouraged some to sabotage everything that these regimes do, as this is in the field of sweeping their effects.
I was surprised today that there are “vases ” with some seedlings intended to beautify one of Bahri ’ s main streets.
Someone smashed it.
Despite the ugliness of these vases, their unsuitability for decoration, and their entitlement to removal, the one who did the smashing of them is more ugly than he did.
Such an act may be repeated in other places and for other things, and it contains conclusive evidence of the misery of our civic education, where the citizen does not distinguish between what belongs to the government and what belongs to him - as a citizen - must be preserved.
Those who sabotage on the grounds that doing so helps to remove the ruling regime, do not know that they will be the ones who will pay the cost of repairing what they sabotage and from their own money, not the money of the government, and these sabotage operations will not affect the system of government.
Surprisingly, all traces of interest and value were made during the totalitarian era, from the government of November 58, through May 69, to June 89, while none of the governments are found in the democratic era.
This may be due to the fact that military governments, especially those of May and June, continued to govern for a long time, enabling them to implement all their plans and programs, while democratic governments were too short to implement any of their programs or plans.
This may be true to some extent, but it does not negate the fact that partisan governments often waste time in political squabbling among themselves and in how to erase the effects of the military rule that preceded them until they are overrun by another.
Why should any government not seek to build on what its predecessor has built, and stop the story of erasing the traces of the other to start again, which has prevented us from catching up with the world, as long as we do not take a step forward without following it back.
Amebia, whales, black scorpions, dung beetles, the power of militias, the power of political Islam, the power of assassinations and repression, the representative of the petty bourgeois class that lives on the oppression of the masses and plunder their wealth, and it kills in cold blood peaceful demonstrators.
This authority is terrified of the masses, terrified of its revolutionary will with patience, steadfastness and the perpetuation of the uprising, terrified of losing its privileges, influence and corruption, it relied on the hardened criminals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and mocked all their repressive organs of the security of the Popular Mobilization Forces, militias and national security headed by Faleh al-Fayyad, who is the actual coordinator between the Popular Mobilization Committee. And tried through stupid plays media escalation and military skirmishes with the United States of America and show its defense of the so-called national sovereignty when Soleimani and the engineer were killed and raised the banner of the exit of foreign forces at a time when their representatives in parliament chanted Soleimani, who killed what killed through his snipers dozens of peaceful demonstrators, and cut off the Internet in the past night and this morning As a new attempt to suppress the protests, and all those efforts to distort and distort the demonstrations and thus strike and suppress them.
This dirty power has shown that its real enemy is not America or foreign forces, but the masses that are hungry for freedom, the peaceful masses that have demanded nothing more than a decent life free of poverty and want, confronting them with live bullets, poison gas, snipers and silencers.
The power of the ruling militias in Iraq imposed itself on the masses of Iraq by the strength of their militias, and that their legitimacy is falsified par excellence, and tries to continue through killings, kidnappings, assassinations, fabricating political plays and blatant labor.
This authority is the third party that the criminal Adel Abdul Mahdi talked about in the bloodshed of the masses, and all its leaders must be brought to trial on charges of killing peaceful demonstrators in addition to dissolving their gangs under any name.
All the forces of the political process talk about the constitution, and boast of addressing the masses that they should not violate the constitution while their militias kill, kidnap and assassinate and there is no deterrent to them without asking whether they commit crimes recommended by the constitution!
Their defense of the Constitution is their defense of their fake and criminal power, a power that without killing and silencing will not last a day.
Such power must be swept away from society; without it, society will take a step towards security, stability, freedom and prosperity.
The alternative to this power is the establishment of a provisional government that guarantees freedom, security and equality.
You will be swept away, scavenged, sterilized, and replaced with his coat, and before him trim his nails and cut his tail, even if it is a cover for him, but this is the creation of God!!!
The religious establishment in Najaf closed its doors, widened its voice, distanced itself and rebuked the leaders of the deep state on more than one occasion.
The deep state is a group of interests that do not care what the homeland and the citizen suffer..?
Many suspicions of corruption gnawed the body of Iraq carried out by the deep state is to impose its will with a piece of paper imposed on Prime Minister Brother Mustafa?
The underdog on his own?
a piece of paper to turn the table because the prime minister & apos; s office is taking a cut
Appointments in important, essential and sovereign positions are imposed on the prime minister with a piece of paper from the leaders of the deep state.
When will we be free from the domination and influence of the leaders of the deep state who slaughtered Iraq by imposing their will..
solution from my point of view.
Is the liberation of minds from the influence of leaders of blocs and corrupt political parties and the dissolution of parliament and sweep the leaders of parties and political blocs corrupt and without exception..!?
The Republican presidential system of government and a courageous independent national leader who leads Iraq.
It is the best solution in imposing the prestige of the state and the rule of law, silencing mouths and freedom of opinion.
The imposition of the will of the state, the rule of law, the dissolution of parliament and a presidential system of government requires a popular movement, the liberation of minds and a massive popular revolution that obeys the corrupt political class and their deep state and the political impasse that cracked our heads.
They say, “Beware of women who talk about honor a lot, ” and by the same measure we should be wary of those who raise their voices high in love of the homeland and the fight against corruption.
The people have always threatened with warning the traitors and the fallen to throw them one day in the dustbin of history when history writes about these people and their treacherous attitudes.
Of course, the writing of history and reference to the biography of men remained dependent on the hands of the victor and those who have power and the scepter and sit on the throne and dictate what he wants from the descriptions of those rulers through pens and writings and praises of the sultans to whiten the faces of those blackened by treason, mercenarism and selling the destinies of peoples. Involved in corruption.
In Ukraine, a corrupt politician and money manipulator threw a lawmaker from the party of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych into a garbage container. * ^ * ^ * * On Tuesday, Ukrainian demonstrators threw Vitaly Gorabsky, a lawmaker from the Party of the Regions, into a garbage container during a rally in front of the parliament in Kiev.
The demonstrators grabbed “Gorabski ”, while leaving the parliament building, and threw him in a garbage container they brought in front of the building, and the demonstrators prevented the exit of“ Gorabski ” from the container briefly, accusing him of causing bloodshed in the country, “for having played a leading role in the issuance of many controversial laws during the period of the previous government. ”
The demonstrators, who belong to the Union of Freedom for All Ukrainians and other nationalist movements, demanded to announce the content of a law granting special status to some cities in the east of the country, as well as the passage of a law punishing members of the former Ukrainian government.
I wonder how much we need in Iraq.
This is what must be done in all our parliamentarians and officials, starting from the top of the pyramid of al-Qaeda and without exception, and recover all the money stolen by them and use the International Interpol agency for that!!!!
And then to prison because they did to us double what this guy did to the Ukrainians.
This is the lesson of the Iraqi parliamentarian all corrupt and corrupt and servants of corruption, injustice and tyranny by using parliamentary immunity as well as their domination over the goods of the country by using influence and exploiting all public places and getting bribes or entering into projects with a share if you want to get the license...
Even if we get a chance to throw them away, where are the trash cans?
When the Ukrainians threw him into the container, they insulted him the most because they were civilized and everything had its rules.
But we, our parliamentarians, our government and all the layers of our society, rich and poor, are cutting the streets
Our main cities and garbage accumulated on the sides, but in the alleys it happened and there is no embarrassment and do not see containers only in the neighborhoods “high-end ” buildings, but the residents of the city, and in this sense, the containers we have a prestige and parliament do not deserve it, and even decorated with plastic packages of all colors have become part of the decor of our neighborhoods and do not want to be spoiled by one, especially parliamentarians And it rots because the landfill is relatively cleaner than them.
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Acts of damage also coincided with international movements: for example, in 2020 the base of the statue was marked with 'Free Hong Kong' during the Hong Kong protests, and in 2022, 'RIP Queen Elizabeth' graffiti was painted in response to the British monarch’s death.

While arrests have occasionally been made, such as after a 1998 decapitation attempt, most perpetrators remain unidentified, with their motives ranging from political protest, artistic statements, to social commentary and international solidarity.

Throughout its over 100-year history, Copenhagen authorities have frequently repaired the Little Mermaid, sparking ongoing debate about the preservation of public art, the symbolism of cultural landmarks, and the contested meanings they accrue through cycles of vandalism and restoration.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, created by Edvard Eriksen and unveiled in 1913, has been repeatedly targeted by acts of vandalism over the years.

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The race has changed?
French literary giant Hugo statue is too dark, protesters are angry with white paint
The statue of Hugo, the French literary giant, has been restored with a darker complexion. (Image from Ville de Besançon Facebook)
2023 / 01 / 02 17: 13
Hugo (1802-1885), the French literary giant who wrote the world-famous works "The Clock Tower Monster" and "Les Miserables", his hometown Besançon has placed his statue in front of the city hall since 2003. Paint.
The New York Times reported that Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow, who helped make the Hugo statue for the city of Besançon, faded the paint on the bronze over time, and since Sow died in 2016, the mayor of Besançon has recently hired a specialist to repair it.
However, the city of Besançon announced the results of the restoration on Facebook, and claimed that it is quite consistent with Sow's original work, from which it can be seen that the face of the Hugo statue has turned dark brown, which attracted a lot of online discussion, some people are positive about Hugo's "skin color" darkening, but others are angry that it is film star Morgan Freeman rather than Hugo.
Sow's widow said that the Hugo statue did appear to be black, and that this was not the original intention of Sow's creation, which immediately sparked another wave of controversy on social networks, and she later thought that she was too casual to make the topic again.
Shortly after the public restoration of the statue in Besançon, protesters took advantage of the night to spray white paint on the statue, and police tracked down and arrested two university students involved, who were members of a far-right student group.
Besançon prosecutors accused the two of racially motivated destruction of public property, and the two students admitted the destruction, but did not agree that it was racist, and the final result was to be decided by the court.
Protesters are deeply dissatisfied and spray white paint. (Image from Ville de Besançon Facebook)
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In 1964, the statue’s head was sawn off and stolen by politically motivated artists, leading to widespread public outrage; the head was never recovered and a new one was made.

Title:

Content: Peru ’ s “Giant Root Statue ” lasted only 7 days!
The little head was shot through a hole.
Journalist Chang Ching-jung / Integrated Foreign Press Report
A new "giant penis statue" erected this year in Moche, northern Peru, more than 3 meters high, just unveiled to attract a large number of people to watch the "majestic" picture, but did not expect just a few days ago because of infuriating some conservationists, was vandalized in the middle of the night, the statue's head was smashed through a hole.
▲ ▼ The statue of Mochka culture, which symbolizes fertility, was vandalized by people. (Photo / Facebook of Mochka Municipal Government)
The Guardian reported that the statue of the penis, made of glass fiber, is a religious representative of the pre-Columbian Mochica culture, and often appears in the shape of ceramic vessels during burial, symbolizing strong fertility.
The statue is only 15 minutes ’ drive from Trujillo, Peru ’ s third largest city, and immediately caused a stir after it was set up early this year. In addition to becoming a new place for people, it also caused some people ’ s anger, saying that the picture was very unsightly.
However, despite the negative noise, the endless crowds still prove that the statue helps promote local tourism.
Less than 10 days after the unveiling, the statue, which is more than 3 meters high and has a penis 45 degrees straight in front of it, was smashed into the turtle head position overnight, as if the male's most valued organ had really encountered serious lacerations.
▲ The turtle head part of the statue was smashed, so that people can see the pain.
(Photo / Twitter)
The mayor of Moche, Arturo Fernández Bazán, said that at 2 a.m. on the 7th, three suspects wearing T-caps and covering their heads held knives against the neck of the guards, so that he could not use the radio to notify the rescue, and then two of them violently smashed the turtle head of the statue.
It is understood that the suspect also fired a gun to celebrate when he fled, apparently with full hostility to the statue.
The statue was donated by an artist to the local government, hoping to promote the local cultural revival and promotion, and Bazan is also pleased to support the artist, saying that in the future, there are plans to erect 30 more Mochka statues, 10 of which will be sexual or fertility statues.
As Peruvians, Bazan said, “All of us should be proud of our diverse cultural heritage, including, of course, the sexual and emotional aspects of human nature. ”
She said that while no one would be allowed to destroy the statue for any reason, she also believed that a better explanation of the cultural aspects of the statue might resolve the controversy it created.
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In 1984, the statue’s right arm was cut off by vandals, but the arm was later returned anonymously and reattached.

Title:

Content: Free Republic, Huang Xu / Symbol of Conquered? Bronze Statue of Chung Cheng Memorial Hall
The park will remove Chiang Kai-shek ’ s bronze statue and change the axis of the park ’ s space in order to reconstruct the memorial narrative, but does it have to be removed to reconstruct the narrative?
Huang Xu / Exhibition Researcher at HKUST
The park will remove Chiang Kai-shek ’ s bronze statue and change the axis of the park ’ s space in order to reconstruct the memorial narrative, but does it have to be removed to reconstruct the narrative?
Those who grew up with the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall over the past 40 years have no shortage of memories of the removal of the bronze statue.
From universities, parks, government agencies to the military, the bronze statue in the trend of democratization of Taiwan, one by one from the public space. The symbol of the bronze statue, at that time, also played the function of ruling society, collective education and domestication in the campus and the military; its frontiersmen risked danger, in the authoritarian political rigidity and death, the old totem actually carried out questionable destruction, it has the meaning of resistance to break the idol. And...
However, does the bronze statue sitting in the memorial still maintain the same social function in the era of authoritarianism?
In the square in front of the memorial hall, people gathered to support the protest cloth; tourists freely shuttled to watch the wonders of the handover of guards; children chasing and playing; lovers walking after the end of the opera... For these people, the bronze statue and the symbol of the axis obviously cannot make them worship the powerful and the authoritative.
The same image, its symbols may have different social functions at different times.
Feeling the symbol of authority does not mean obeying and believing in authority.
But today, there is no guarantee that tomorrow will remain; the specter of authoritarianism always hovers over human society, waiting for an opportunity to resurrect, history has appeared, the future does not guarantee that there is no.
So, can removing the bronze statue prevent the ghost from coming back?
Renowned sociologist Bruno Latour curated an exhibition “Iconoclash ” in Germany, reflecting on human“ Iconoclasm. ”
One of the reasons that Latus does not believe and does not believe in the need to destroy the removal of the image is that in destroying the image, it is likely that the image will be "freeze-framing", and it will be removed from the historical movement of reproduction, and become a static, deactivated, and a symbol of conquest.
At different times, the same acts of vandalism may change from “resistance ” to the meaning of“ conquest ”; if accompanied by the cries of idolatricians, it is no different from the spectacle of the tyranny of the truth that is fickle.
It is worth pondering, can we break away from the monopoly of the authoritarian ghost by destroying the statue? The destruction of the giant Buddha statue increases the religious conflict and does not destroy Buddhism. Removing the bronze statue may also increase social contradictions in vain and do nothing to prevent authoritarian politics.
Prevention of authoritarianism must begin with understanding what authoritarianism is, rather than transforming authoritarianism into an image and publicly expelling it, forming the illusion that authoritarianism seems never to come again.
The spatial layout and objects of the Zhongzheng Memorial Hall garden form a group of powerful statues, which concretize the abstract political system, and describe the strong politics of the past and the great power landscape.
Refusing to categorize this group of images, you can link it with other images, objects, films, paintings, etc., and place it in a dynamic society and flow of time, such as through it to see Taiwan ’ s political participants during the Japanese rule, and then to see Taiwan ’ s democratic politics creeping forward.
Through the authoritarian symbol of the image, the image of political dissidents standing on the streets can be more enlightening, and the figure of political victims can be more memorable, so the democratic system and freedom of speech are more cherished.
In other words, this set of spaces and objects has the ability to show connections, which can help us to have a deeper understanding and reflection on the history and the present.
Without authoritarianism, we cannot understand the hardships of Taiwan ’ s democracy. Its symbol should not be seen as a buried past, but as a reference that must be returned at all times.
A history that must be vigilant is not equivalent to a text that covers the coffin.
Using the authoritative symbols of this set of images as a medium is an eternal work of building relationships between images, a continuous process of connection and production from the images to other images.
Only in this way will the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Park become a public space for safeguarding democracy, rather than another place to commemorate its great achievements.
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In 1990, another attempt was made to decapitate the statue, but the damage was less severe, only leaving a deep cut in the neck.

In 1998, the statue was beheaded once more, with the head later found and restored to the body.

Besides physical mutilation, the statue has been subjected to various forms of defacement, including being drenched in paint several times, often as a form of protest or political demonstration.

For example, in 2006, the statue was covered in green paint by activists protesting Denmark’s involvement in the Iraq War.

In 2017, the statue was doused with red paint by animal rights activists opposing whaling practices in the Faroe Islands.

Other incidents include dressing the statue in costumes, such as burqas or football jerseys, to make political or social statements.

Throughout its history, the statue’s repeated vandalism has sparked debates in Danish society about its symbolism and the motivations behind such acts, ranging from political dissent to general acts of rebellion or mischief.

Despite security efforts, the open location of the Little Mermaid on the Copenhagen harborfront has left it vulnerable to further attacks.

Title:

Content: The 5 rules of art training necessary to visit a museum and see an exhibition are basic.
Author: The Bund
Published: Updated:
The exhibition of civilization is a long way off.
Huang Yi, a mainland actor, took a group of photos in May and said excitedly: “For the first time in my life, I played the little swallow 20 years ago, so today I want to take her with me … ” She is wearing a diamond rose earring and holding a rose in her hand.
Unexpectedly, the photo caused controversy when it was posted.
After realizing the mistake, Huang Yi made a public apology at the first time, sincerely saying that she would be more strict in her work and life in the future, and deleted the photos.
And then there were those who cried.
Because there is no clear logo around the exhibits she took, it is easy to be misunderstood.
But her reaction also gave us a demonstration and warning.
In the past two years, more and more people have gone to the museum, and we have begun to realize the importance of spiritual wealth, but while feeling the art, we should be more awe of the works in front of us.
Touched and damaged exhibits
The photo props that Huang Yi held in his hand this time were part of a new exhibition “Cloud Sculpture – The First Academic Invitation Exhibition ” at the Pine Museum of Art in Beijing in early May. The artist placed a shiny“ rose field ” on the outdoor lawn.
Before Huang Yi took the photo, many people had already come here to check in.
Some influencers even hold a whole bouquet of flowers in their hands, unaware that it is also part of the artwork.
Sometimes, in order to better integrate art and the environment, artists will deliberately not set boundaries on the edge.
But often, it can lead to accidents.
At the end of February, during a preview of Art Wynwood in Miami, Jeff Koons ’ balloon dog sculpture was accidentally knocked down by a visitor.
The collection fell to the ground and fell to pieces.
This sculpture is worth $42,000, which is a shame.
After the incident, the visitor did nothing to make up for it, except to feel "very ashamed."
Fortunately, the organizer bought insurance, and the loss was paid for by the insurance company.
Related article ： Jeff Koons' balloon dog was accidentally broken in the United States exhibition cause of Luo Shengmen
+ 16
Some of them may be unintentional, and some may be driven by excessive desire to explore.
When Yayoi Kusama ’ s previous exhibition landed in Shanghai, an iconic pumpkin stood in the center of the square.
It is forbidden to touch the scene, and there are security reminders around, but there are still people who try to make intimate contact with it.
In desperation, the organizer had to surround it with a guard line.
Compromise artists.
After the destruction of the exhibits, it is often difficult for artists to claim compensation, sometimes claiming to re-create the artwork and co-exist with the destruction.
During May Day this year, the "wilderness country" of Luhu in Chengdu was loved by tourists.
A variety of imaginative art installations, childlike and romantic.
However, the work of the artist Joe Knife, “Giant Cat ”, was only put in for a week and found to be destroyed.
Looking at the injured cat, he and the staff were distressed and could only put a small tape on the wound.
When people come and go in public spaces, it is difficult for staff to stare at a certain exhibit all the time, and it is difficult to restrict the behavior of those who come and accept the status quo.
Recently, young felt artist Carrot Pie has also been distressed by the damage to the exhibits.
Her handmade felt sculpture, “Daydream of a Rainy Day, ” was originally a work that allowed“ touch and rely on. ”
I can ’ t believe it was only four days before the show, and the audience was pissed off.
Many bear children climbed onto the sculpture and kept pulling her, pulling her, and stepping on her. After seeing the pie, they were particularly sad and felt that their work had been completely destroyed.
She lamented, “Why do so many works require touching to be forbidden? ”
Because you never know how outrageous the scene will be! ”
Coincidentally, a banana exhibit at the Seoul Art Museum in South Korea was eaten by a student during a visit.
This banana is one of the important works by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, called Comedian, which was sold for $120,000.
After the incident, the artist put a banana on it, saying that he did not intend to pursue the university student.
Related Article: Seoul 's' Banana 'Artwork Eaten, Korean University Students Involved: No Breakfast Feeling Hungry
Many times, perhaps it is because the cost of making mistakes is too low that people dare to vandalize exhibits without restraint.
As for whether the exhibits should be surrounded in the end, there is no unified standard in the industry.
One curator said that they had tried to make an open exhibition, but the view was very poor.
Some people will secretly take away the exhibits, and others will sit on it and pose, and for safety reasons, they will agree to protect the exhibits in a conventional manner.
What should I pay attention to when visiting the museum?
In the past two years, the museum has become the preferred destination for many young people to travel in their leisure time.
The reason we go to the exhibition is not only to see the works of art, but also to experience the perspective of the artist to see the world and feel their expression.
Art in the subtle, nourishing people's spiritual world.
As Chen Danqing wrote in The New York Chronicle: “Strange.
When people come to the museum, they will look good... standing in front of the painting or statue, and quiet, and their eyes are exceptionally pure. "
However, the act of vandalizing the exhibits is not beautiful at all.
Regardless of the form in which the exhibits exist, we should maintain respect and distance.
What do you usually pay attention to when going to a museum?
1.
Comply with the Basic Principles of Public Space
For example, not eating anything, not talking loudly, not wearing shoes that sound too loud to walk, etc., does not affect other visitors.
2.
Do not touch the exhibits.
With the exception of the few interactive or interactive exhibits that can be touched, most of the exhibits are by default only farsighted.
Do not feel that it is irrelevant to gently touch, if everyone does, countless fingerprints and sweat left on the exhibits will cause irreversible damage to the exhibits.
There are some small items that may be worth even the city.
3.
Pay attention to the photo scale
You can ’ t turn on the flash when taking photos, and you can ’ t bring equipment such as selfie sticks and tripods.
This is because strong light can accelerate the fading, aging of some artworks, and even stab the eyes of other visitors.
4.
Take your backpack carefully.
Many museums have a bag storage service, if you carry a shoulder bag, try to carry it with your hands or on your chest, so as not to inadvertently touch the exhibits or others when turning.
5.
No pets
Pets are usually not allowed in the museum.
Because once they get out of control and run around, they will knock down and damage the exhibits.
Conversely, if the exhibits are heavy, or the surface is sharper, it will cause harm to the pet.
Different museums may have different details.
When you are not sure if you can do something, you can check the official requirements in the museum or ask the staff.
Nowadays, many museums are already doing education very carefully, such as the Chi Mei Museum in Taiwan, everyone must be taken to a special room before visiting to watch the must-know animation, to avoid violating the regulations without knowing it.
Respect the work of artists and museums, and show civilization, the road is long and long.
This requires the awe and self-awareness of each of us, believing in the light of one lamp, and the light of all lights.

Each act of vandalism has led to restoration work to preserve the statue as a cultural landmark, though some fear repeated repairs could cause irreversible damage.

Title:

Content: "Love Media Chien Hsiu-chih Column" The Yellow Water (1895-1930) "manna water" has finally returned to her mother's house.
Like lost contact for many years, the humiliated daughter, all over the mud returned to her mother's house, but she still raised her head and raised her chest, not shed half a drop of tears, but saw her mother's eyes, her heart was like a knife.
After 185 days of careful, careful and gentle repair process, they took pains to take scientific comparisons and international experts streaming, but still couldn ’ t remove the old ink stain, as if the yellow water had been an art for a lifetime, and had borne the world ’ s troubles and sufferings.
And those old ink stains are also branded with some of the selfish bias of human nature, and at the same time highlight the serious lack of aesthetic education in Taiwan in the early years.
"Mannen Water" is a rare surviving marble work of loess water, and it is also an epic creation, which plays an important role in the history of Taiwanese art.
Created between 1919 and 1920, Mannu was selected for the 3rd Japan Imperial Exhibition (Imperial Art Exhibition), and even the Japanese royal family was interested in the work. It was exhibited in the Taiwan Pavilion of the Tokyo Peace Memorial Expo.
After Huang Tu-shui's death in 1930, his family shipped 500 kilograms of "Mannoshui" to Taiwan in 1931, together with other works, to be collected by the Taiwan Education Association.
After the end of the Japanese era, the Provisional Provincial Council of Taiwan Province moved to Taichung, but in 1958, "Mannen" moved south, embarked on a wandering fate. Although placed by the surgeon Chang Hung-biao family, in 1974, under the treacherous social atmosphere, Chang family sealed "Mannen" in a family-run factory, nearly half a century, with dark traces of ink and dark boxes. In.
The North Master gave birth to a talented young man and returned to his mother's home.
2021 is the 100th anniversary of the selection of Huang Tu Shui “Mannu Water ” in the emperor ’ s exhibition, and it seems that there is a force driving it.
At the end of April this year, when the time came, the "right people, the right situation" finally appeared.
After repeated communication and contacts, the descendants of the Chang family agreed to donate "unconditionally" to the state, so that "manna" finally saw the light of day.
On May 11 this year, "Mannen Water" arrived at the Beishi Museum of Art with care and officially returned to her mother's home.
The Kitaishi Museum of Art and Tokyo University of Fine Arts alumnus Junichi Mori formed a restoration team to carry out professional restoration.
In September this year, under the witness of President Tsai Ing-wen, Zhang Shiwen and Minister of Culture Li Yongde officially signed a contract to deliver the national collection.
In 1921, he was selected for the third emperor exhibition in Japan, becoming a Taiwanese artist once again after he was selected for the second emperor exhibition in 1920.
When the good news came out, the teachers and friends of Huang Tushui in Tokyo and Taipei were proud.
The following year, "Mannoshui" was also invited to be exhibited in the Taiwan Pavilion of the Peace Memorial Expo in Tokyo, Japan, and wrote an unprecedented record, proving that the Japanese royal family and the academic community at that time gave "Mannoshui" a high evaluation and affirmation.
Huang Tun-shui, a native of Taipei's Mengjia, first entered the Mengjia Public School, which was used as a classroom in the Mengjia Temple for a year, and then moved back to Tataocheng Public School (now Taiping Elementary School), where he entered the Mandarin School of the Governor-General's Office.
MORI CHUN-YI LIN MANLI DONG UNIVERSITY FIND EXPERTS FOR EXPERIENCE
November 11 marks the museum ’ s first public appearance after a professional restoration of Mannen.
Lin Man-li, chairman of the National Arts Council, and Junichi Mori, a Japanese expert in restoration, co-chaired a press conference to explain the restoration of the half-century old manna, and the changes in the face after the restoration.
To the north, the north is his mother ’ s home.
And in the school for more than 30 years, is also the North Division Museum of the birth of the director, Lin Manli, feeling particularly deep, when seeing the completion of 100 years of the creation of "manna", in the dust for more than half a century, back to the North Division Museum of Art, like the wandering daughter home, the mood of the excitement, ineffable.
However, the dust servant ’ s daughter returned to her mother ’ s house, and the appearance did not appear to be damaged, but the dust and ink stains, especially when they were maliciously splashed in their private parts, made people not bear to read.
The world's mothers are the same, see the tired daughter, so badly hurt, almost torn liver, heart like a knife.
So the museum and Japanese restoration expert Junichi Mori immediately organized a repair team, since May 11, this year, "Manna" entered the museum, it has been exactly 6 months, but after half a year (185 days) of professional repair, the impurities can be removed, so that the work looks very good, and the private parts of the work, malicious spilled ink, has completely penetrated into the marble crystal. The soul is strong, and the soul is strong, and it is like a dream, and it is not a dream.
Evil ink attack, as early as more than half a century ago, imagine that for more than 50 years, every day wrapped in evil ink long sleep, the feeling of humiliation, can not be described by pen ink.
But in the works, the young girl's slightly raised forehead, warm face, coupled with half open eyes, is still not humble and unkind, and holds up all the attacks and hardships, making people more reluctant, so that the world's mother shared a bitter tears.
Lin Man-li, who also studied in Japan and took ten years to obtain a doctorate from the University of Tokyo, hopes to do her utmost to save the work of Huang Tu-shui, a senior at Tokyo University (formerly known as the Tokyo School of Fine Arts).
In the eyes of Chairman Lin Man-li, the talented and diligent Huang Tu-shui is a rare artistic talent in the past. The time when “Mann-shui ” was selected for the Emperor ’ s Exhibition Award was exactly 100 years ago. It seems like a coincidence of fate, but it is a self-selection of Huang Tu-shui. It is more like the God who was jealous of talents and mistakenly grasping the wonders. After the wind and frost," Mannen Water "returned to the Museum of Fine Arts, like a neighbor who lost her daughter, and after a long search and waiting, returned to her mother's arms, making the Museum of Fine Arts feel warm and warm.
Because of the epidemic, he came to Taiwan last year to repair Huang Tu-shui's "Girl's Chest" and has remained in Taiwan.
Iron urchin ink snake scorpion behavior aesthetics bad taste naked goddess 63 years black box accompanied by long sleep with stain
Mori analyzed the composition of the ink, and he confirmed that the ink stain that was sprayed on "Manna" was "iron gall ink".
This ink, made from a mixture of vegetable tanning and iron salts, has been widely used by European artists since the 5th century.
Because the ink is acidic, written on paper, for a long time, there will be corrosion, "manna" has been spilled by iron liner ink for more than half a century, has been completely melted into the texture of the stone, whether it has a biochemical effect on the marble, it is not yet known, but in terms of repair experience, it is extremely rare.
At present, the private parts of the "manna" statue can be seen with the naked eye, and the inner parts of the thigh are still imprinted with pale blue ink.
In the past six months, the repair team has contacted Italian restorers and NTU's chemical laboratory to try to remove the ink through lasers, ultrasound, and various chemical agents, but it has not been able to completely remove it, because the ink has stayed in the statue more than one piece, and the stain has been inhaled and assimilated by the marble.
From the creation of "manna" so far, more than 100 years, so the repair team is trembling, all repair attempts must work safety as the first priority, look forward to one day, safe and effective decontamination tricks appear, can be dealt with again, but at this stage ink stains can only be diluted.
Lin says that it is a kind of historical imprint, a process that Taiwanese people should remember and reflect on.
Due to the removal of the ink stain, it is feared that it will cause irreversible second-degree damage, so the repair work can only be promoted by bulldozing.
In order to eliminate the stubborn evil ink, they used expert research to understand the source of what kind of black ink, calculate the time of spraying, and make a detailed analysis of everything based on historical development and scientific basis.
Mori, who was in charge of the restoration work, not only handled the bust of "The Girl", which caused a great deal of response last year, but also the restoration of "The Buffalo Herd" by Chungshan Hall, and also helped with the restoration and reproduction of "Teijiro Yamamoto" commissioned by the National Taiwan Museum of Art.
At yesterday's press conference, Mori Junichi said that as a sculptor, a restorer, and a student at Tokyo University of the Arts, his respect for Huang Tu Shui is growing day by day.
After World War I, Japan needs the soul of warriors, the land and water, the art of the East, and the beauty of the East.
Mori Junichi said that Japan in the First World War (1914-1918), due to military needs and other factors, the economy showed abnormal development, when the end of the First World War, Japan broke out the economic crisis of 1918, although the government and opposition efforts to make adjustments, so that the situation rebounded slightly the following year.
But in the spring of 1920, the Japanese economy fell into a new economic crisis, and the Japanese economy fell into a decade-long depression.
Mori explains that during periods of depression and social upheaval, Japanese society generally had a high expectation of "national strength, national strength, and wealth," and that even if it was a nude work, the male body, which favored the expression of power, female body creation, was extremely unpopular at the time.
However, Huang Tu-shui's "Mannoshui" has broken through the eyes of the public, and the naked woman with no visible face has been able to break through the social atmosphere and gain the favor of the judges, which shows that the work's power and connotation are solid, and it is only possible that it will rise to prominence.
As an alumnus of Tokyo University of the Arts, Mori felt the progress of Huang Tu Shui ’ s works in different periods, and admired Huang Tu Shui ’ s talent and hard learning spirit.
Mori Chun-yi said that the restoration process of "Mannu" two major challenges, one to remove the dust and dirt accumulated in the past 50 years, and the second to repair the ink-spilled statue's privacy.
Those accumulated dirt, not the general surface can be cleaned, but to remove a lot of organic matter that has been deep into the marble gap, quite troublesome, he even put the ink, dripping in the simulated hand model to observe the diffusion, to help "manna" find a chance of spring.
Mori Chun-yi ’ s “Buffalo Portrait ” and“ Girl ’ s Chest ” works after the restoration of Huangtuishui are very familiar with the style and characteristics of Huangtuishui in different eras.
Mori Chun-yi pointed out that the marble carving "Chestnut" is only a commercial building material grade stone, the internal impurities, not the sculptor's choice, than last year's "Chestnut Girl", lower grade, resulting in the current "Chestnut" protection of "Chestnut water", congenital shortage (such as stone) and later out-of-tune (ink into the crystal for too long), it is difficult to be physically removed. Repair work, multiplying the difficulty.
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It is understood that for more than half a year, the repair team has continuously tried various efforts for the removal of ink stains through the assistance of Italian repair experts and relevant professionals of the Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan University, but the results are limited.
Mori Junichi said that the repair team, even by injecting solvents in a vacuum, tried to penetrate the crystalline structure and gently remove the ink stains in this way, which is now much lighter than the original situation, but still can clearly see the ink traces.
As part of the cultural association ’ s 100th anniversary activities, the exhibition of related art works has been scheduled to start on December 18. During the exhibition, the works will be covered with ink in a reversible way first, and then continue to be processed.
"Huang Tushui must not have the heart to let everyone see the stains of naked women's private parts, whether Taiwan or Japan, such a viewing culture, is very close."
As a woman and mother, Lin Manli, chairman of the board, worked hard to rescue the yellow earth water.
Lin Man-li said with sadness that in 1915, Huang Tu-shui, who came from the cold gate, was recommended by Uchida Kakich, the governor of the government house, and Kumamoto Shigeyoshi, the principal of the Mandarin school, and other people. He studied wood carving with Takamura Koun (1852-1934) and Asakura Aragonite (1883-1964). He became the first Taiwanese student to study art in Japan. The painstaking.
In the performance of sculpture art, Huang Tushui's self-learning spirit is even more admirable.
In his early years in Taiwan, he carved a lot of wooden Buddha statues, to the Tokyo Art School, but also into the sculpture department, but the water does not set limits, he has a high self-ambition, learning pace.
In class, he used wood carving as a normal learning, and in the spare time, he taught himself stone carving.
Since the Western carving trend of that era, including Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), had spread in Japan, Huang Tishui had the opportunity to observe the information of stone carving art and observe the creative process of stone carvers.
Buddha statue, wood carving, Western stone carving, yellow earth water, self-taught art.
In the tight conditions, limited winding, can only choose the cheaper building grade stone, manna creation, about 1919, Huang Tu Shui is not only still a student in Japan, but also his mother Huang Shi Su the previous year.
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He returned to Taiwan to visit his mother, and soon organized a funeral for his mother. The funeral expenses, plus the travel expenses to and from Taiwan and Japan, were a heavy burden to the land and water.
After the return of the day, he created a sad creation, in the continuous experience of life and death, for example, parents and brothers died, the shadow of death, for him, like a shadow, he deeply understands the immortality of the world, and life is short, all the way, seems to be racing against time, so he strongly hopes to challenge the big works, use art to protect his classic. The fruits of artistic exploration leave even more for posterity the timelessness that he has walked through.
Yellow water can not afford pure white marble, to create "manna", the stone size required is large, the cost is higher, he can only choose with stripes of pale yellow stone, and is a building material grade, will be ready to create.
A penny, a penny, a second grade stone, not only in appearance, not good looking, the texture of this type of stone is also inconsistent, in the carving, more difficult to master than pure white marble, more time-consuming and laborious. The use of stone grain at the right time, skillfully translated according to the grain.
This is because he saw that the stone is like the inside of a shell, so he incorporated the concept of Nirvana in the Dharma into the shape of the shape, so that the naked woman ’ s hands hung on the shell shaped stone block, calm, calm and confident, the hair bun, extending from the neck to the back of the beautiful curve, half open his eyes, conveying the deep love. Meaning, the height of 153 cm marks the realistic beauty of the East, not the Western Venus.
The beauty of women, not only does not impose the high feminine charm of Western Venus, but also deliberately gives "Mannen Water" with a slightly heavy foot, to highlight the vulgar and friendly work of ordinary people, is the aesthetic of ordinary people, the left and right sides of the palm of the foot, so that the "Mannen Water" inside, showing more layers, vast and boundless, "second grade stone, creative. Not only does the work not hide its flaws, but it also shows a personal style and irreplaceable identity, and only when the slightly chubby Oriental woman in" Manna Water "has the chance to make Huang Tushui once again enter the imperial exhibition and win the crown.
However, the homeless wanderer, lonely and lonely, crying in the dark, he relies on creation, suffering from hunger and cold, healing pain, and more "manna" glory, ending sadness, with reverse thinking, transcending adversity, that kind of sadness, also in the "manna water", it is easy to read, like entering Mahler (Gustav Mahler 1860) 1911) in the world.
Death Overhead Solitary Watch Long Night Mahler Gavel, Funeral Song, Anti-Tragedy Yellow Water "Mannen" Welcome to Rebirth
Mahler ’ s life has been full of bad luck, death, and long years. Through music, he confided in his heart, and in the entangled atmosphere, he made a protest against the 51 years of his short life. In.
On the contrary, the yellow earth water, 35 years old due to blindness delayed medical treatment, caused peritonitis death, his fate is shorter, the rhythm of more hasty, but marble carving, time and effort, not fast, to the yellow earth stone in the age of 24 to 25 years old to create "manna", suffice to his vomiting heart and blood, really emperor, 26 years old let him win the laurel And...
With his precocious intellectual youth and bold and innovative contemporary vocabulary, he completely ignored the conservatism surrounding him, and chose the local girl who represented the oriental body, declaring his aesthetic views with the most frank and friendly naked body, and bringing out the Oriental height and the grand praise of human values.
It is worth mentioning that Huang Tu-shui was diligent and practical, and he used Western sculpture concepts and techniques to integrate the essence of Eastern aesthetics learned from the wood carving of Buddha statues in the early years, and devoted himself to the hard work of marble creation.
The naked face is far from the erotic hint of the wind, flowers and snow, and the pure posture of all things in heaven and earth, expressing Shen stable and introverted. That half-open eye is a window to visit the world, and it is not a Western artist at all. She is selfless and unlustful, passing on the great love of human beings, distributing soothing feelings, protecting all things in the universe, and celebrating eternity.
Huang Tushui's "Mannu Water", like the daughter of Taiwan, takes the cangs of half a century back to her mother's home, the poison of evil ink and the evil of human nature, making people speechless.
A total of 185 days of repair work has passed, and the bad ink is still hard to remove, but the good justice that the yellow earth water gave to the naked woman of "Mannen" still allows the work to expand its chest, not humble and not arrogant.
Taiwan's daughter brings Cangsang back to her mother's home, she doesn't feel inferior, and she turns back her enemies.
"Manna Water" is not only a pioneer in the history of Taiwanese art, even in the Japanese society of the 1920s, it is also a rare contemporary masterpiece. In every detail of the work, the soft beauty of the neck line under the bun, the delicate and sensitive back line, and the skin treatment that can be broken by blowing, are still attracting attention after 100 years. The Pen.
Today, 100 years after the creation of "Mannoshui", it can be reproduced in front of the eyes of the public. It is believed that it will inevitably bring a new and all-round impact to Taiwan society.
Huang Tu Shui "manna" in the end of the restoration, take a reversible treatment, temporarily cover the ink stains, so that the work presents a clean, clean new look, happy to meet the public.
This exhibition, which will be exhibited at the Beishi Art Museum from December 18 to April 21 next year, will then move to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts to continue to share with the people of central and southern Taiwan, so that people can feel the proud achievements of Huang Shishui's creation of "Mannoshui" a hundred years ago, insight into human talent, and the vast selfless love.
Perhaps let the Yellow Water, which has been dead for 91 years, truly enter the earth for peace, let go of the sufferings, tribulations, troubles and distractions of the human world, and use the "half-opened eyes" of "Kandoo Water" to climb the "Niranpan" Buddhist landscape, and even sail into the realm of freedom in the clear sky!
The author is the president of Collections Magazine.
Photo Source: Official website of the North Museum of Art.
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# manna # loess # restoration # creation # Mori Chun

The ongoing series of attacks continues to raise questions about public art, societal values, and the balance between protest and respect for cultural heritage.