For the bicentenary of the birth of French General Louis Faidherbe in 2018, a protest campaign named ‘Faidherbe Doit Tomber’ (Faidherbe Must Fall) was organised contesting the Monument au Général Faidherbe (monument to General Faidherbe) located in Lille, France. The statue, which was erected in 1896, celebrates the general’s heroism… Read More
In autumn 2020 a bust of the 18th century King of Denmark and Norway Frederik V mysteriously disappeared from its pedestal at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It was later found to have been thrown into the canals of Copenhagen in a filmed protest by a group of… Read More
Following the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests, the statue of General Redvers Buller was reviewed by the Exeter City Task Force and slated for removal. This was due to Bullers controversial historical role in the South African War (1899-1902). This decision to remove the statue received mixed reactions and spurred… Read More
A sculpture named A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft, stands on Newington Green in London. It sparked controversy following its unveiling on November 10, 2020, as some argued that the depiction of the nude ‘everywoman’ failed to commemorate the proto-feminist philosophies of Wollstonecraft in a respectful manner. A lack of public… Read More
Plaza Baquedano at the centre of Santiago was traditionally the central meeting point for protests and celebrations in the Chilean capital. Since the outbreak of social protests in October 2019, the square and its monument became a central focal point. The protestors have tried to rename the square to Plaza… Read More
The Yasukuni Shrine, originally established in 1869, became controversial after the Second World War when 14 Class A War Criminals were enshrined at the site. Aside from the 14 war criminals, over 2.5 million souls are preserved at Yasukuni. Visits by Japanese leadership to the shrine have resulted in difficult… Read More
The African Renaissance Monument is a 50-meter tall statue in Dakar, Senegal, erected in 2010 as the project of then-President Abdoulaye Wade. It serves to commemorate the ‘African Renaissance,’ a political ideology that heralds a goal of growth and prosperity for the African continent in the 21st century. However, the… Read More
The removal of the Stalin statue from the central square in Gori represents a top-down policy implementation approach to a contested historical monument. Such implementations of Georgia’s Freedom Charter illustrate the legal framework under which symbols, monuments and names of sites related to the Soviet past become reconfigured. However, positions… Read More
This memorial commemorates the 1895 Battle of Coolela, fought in Mozambique between the Portuguese colonial administration and their African allies, and the Gaza Empire led by Emperor Ngungunyane. The monument was originally created by the Portuguese administration in the late 1890s to celebrate their victory and conquest and to honour… Read More
Former Argentine President Julio Argentino Roca remains a divisive and controversial figure in his home country. Despite forging the foundations of the modern Argentine state, Roca’s campaigns in Patagonia in the ‘Conquest of the Desert’ campaign, has lead to claims that he perpetrated genocide against indigenous Argentine populations. In the… Read More