Decapitados

Already in classical Rome the destruction of monuments and symbols was a way to erase from history the enemies who had been defeated. In more recent times, this practice has acquired another meaning: the statues of Columbus, Lenin or Saddam Hussein have been expelled from the places where they once stood, becoming a vindication for the respect of the new citizenry that does not want that burden. The art historian and journalist Peio H. Riaño addresses a growing debate that asks how we want the city of the 21st century to be, while the Black Lives Matter movement protests against racist symbols and in Latin America thousands of people demonstrate calling for their disappearance of the bronze and stone conquerors that still adorn its streets. Through a journey through a series of "artistic" representations, from Mao to Franco, this cultural investigation questions whether monuments that represent unbearable values ??such as racism, machismo and exclusion should be preserved. The result is a controversial and scholarly text, which shows us why the beheading of these monuments does not intend to purify history, as some argue, but to cleanse the present with historical truth and remove the elements that distort the reading of the past.