Abstract The role and function of public art is currently undergoing some large-scale changes. Many new artworks which are situated within the already existing urban sphere, seem to be changing the ...definition of public art, each in their own way. Simultaneously, there exists a trend that endorses more traditional forms of public art. Juxtaposing and comparing the aesthetic implications of different types of artworks, it is possible to see how they contribute to the contemporary understanding of the urban sphere. In this paper, I take a look at the explicit and implicit aesthetic values that these simultaneously existing contemporary forms of public art are based on. The cases selected for closer look are examples of prominent and recent works of public art from downtown Helsinki: He who Brings the Light (unveiled in 2017) by Pekka Kauhanen and Running Man (performed in 2016-17) by Nestori Syrjala. What space and what kind of position is subscribed to the perceiver by these very different types of yet equally established artworks? What kind of experiences and possibilities of participation do these works entail? The focus is on the undergoing redefinition of public art that revolves around these questions.
The positions of Peruvian intellectuals and artists upon the monument to Colonel Francisco Bolognesi are presented in two contexts separated for nearly half a century: the inauguration in 1905 and ...the replacement of the statue of the hero in 1954. The aim is to understand how the change of sen sibility from martyr to victorious hero was developed with respect to the colonel of Arica, which legitimized the substitution of the sculptural work. It is proposed that the image of hero-martyr represented in the first sculpture had already became unwanted in the middle of the last century, because of the definition of the “captive” provinces of Tacna and Arica dispute, the Peruvian military triumph against Ecuador (1941) and the promotion of Bolognesi as a patron of the Peruvian Army. In addition, the widespread thesis that therewas an “primitive project” for the monument, by the Catalan sculptor Agustín Querol, which did not materialize due to the intervention of the organising committee of the competition, is refuted. An interpretation is sought regarding the emergence and dissemination of the “primitive project” in the light of the context of the 1950s, when an attempt was made to disqualify the sculpture made by Querol.
Se presentan los posicionamientos de intelectuales y artistas peruanos frente al monumento del coronel Francisco Bolognesi en dos contextos separados por casi medio siglo: la inauguración (1905) y el reemplazo de la estatua del héroe (1954). Se busca comprender cómo se desarrolló el cambio de sensibilidad de mártir a héroe victorioso respecto al coronel de Arica, lo que legitimó la sustitución de la obra escultórica. Se propone que la imagen de héroe-mártir plasmada en la primera escultura ya era indeseada en la mitad del siglo pasado, frente a la definición de las provincias “cautivas” de Tacna y Arica, el suceso militar peruano en la campaña contra Ecuador (1941) y la promoción de Bolognesi a patrono del Ejército. Además, se refuta la difundida tesis de que hubo un “proyecto primitivo” para el monumento del escultor catalán Agustín Querol, que no se concretizó por intervención de la comisión organizadora del concurso. Se busca interpretar su surgimiento y difusión a luz del contexto de los años 50, cuando se intentaba descalificar la escultura hecha por Querol.
Current scholarship on élite munificence in the Roman Empire often sees architectural benefactions as being at least partially driven by the élite desire for personal commemoration. I use juristic ...opinions from the Digest and other textual evidence related to building gifts to argue that there was an ancient understanding of the physical and symbolic ephemerality of architectural benefactions. In contrast, I present legal and epigraphic evidence to argue that there was an explicit expectation for gifts of spectacles and monetary distributions to be lasting memorials for their donors, and that the perpetuation of identity was also a motivating factor in the euergetic choice of a spectacle.
Resumo Neste artigo investigamos a construção do primeiro monumento público em homenagem a um líder negro erigido em São Paulo: o busto de Luiz Gama, situado no Largo do Arouche, no centro da cidade. ...Analisamos a campanha para a sua ereção, a concepção artística da herma, as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos que dirigiram a iniciativa diante dos obstáculos colocados pelos poderes públicos. Todo o processo, ocorrido entre 1929 e 1931, foi levado a cabo pela imprensa negra da cidade, mais especificamente pelos realizadores do jornal Progresso, de forma independente. Ao relatar de modo detalhado a luta por concretizar a homenagem, revelando aspectos importantes da relação da imprensa negra com a cidade, a presente pesquisa busca demonstrar o forte conteúdo identitário da iniciativa, além de precisar os dados referentes à datação da construção e inauguração do monumento.
U radu se na osnovi novih arhivskih istraživanja govori o venecijanskom klesaru i kiparu Andrei Galeazzu (oko 1614. – nakon 1653.), autoru danas nestalih spomenika generalnim providurima Leonardu ...Foscolu (1647.) i Lorenzu Dolfinu (1653.) podignutih u Šibeniku. Na osnovi nekih važnih venecijanskih primjera nadgrobnih spomenika raspravlja se i o tipologiji ove vrste javnih spomenika u Dalmaciji.
Public monuments in colonial Nairobi were visual links to the British empire, and served as a means of asserting imperial power. During this period, colonial memories and identities were inscribed ...into Nairobi’s landscape by the dominant group, the elite of the European population. However, at the moment of Kenya’s achievement of independence from colonial rule, such identities and assertions of power were challenged as statues were removed from the city. This paper examines the forces behind the decolonisation of Nairobi’s monumental landscape and how this landscape visualised the changing political and cultural contexts of the city. Comparisons are made with the removal of statues from Sudan, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to situate the Kenyan experience. Through a comparative examination of the decolonisation of Nairobi’s monumental landscape, this paper illustrates how the removal of public monuments from the city was exploited by both the coloniser and the colonised.
► The paper examines the fate of colonial monuments in the dissolution of empire. ► It highlights changing identities and memories in Nairobi’s symbolic landscape. ► Comparisons are made with Sudan, India and DRC to situate the Kenyan experience. ► The removal of monuments is a tool used by both the coloniser and the colonised.
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