Monument to Absence in Mexico City

The Monument to Absence commemorates the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre when government
forces opened fire on a student protest at Mexico City’s Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Square of the
Three Cultures). The monument was created in collaboration with the Executive Commission for
Attention to Victims (CEAV) and the University Cultural Centre Tlatelolco (CCUT). Memorialisation
of the massacre is part of a meaningful set of actions, both institutional and grassroots, which
continue to confront this historical event. It follows one memorial that was never built and a
second highly criticised memorial, each erected on key anniversaries of the Tlatelolco Massacre. At
the same time as the inauguration of this monument, protestors erected an anti-monument in
Mexico City. This case study examines the complex history of the memorialisation process and the
role that the leaders of the student movement played in having the State eventually recognise the
tragedy.