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MONUMENTALITY AND MONUMENTAL SPACES by Ahmed Helal
the future, which raises a group of consequential questions about monumentality today: what are the narratives that we are shaping, reinforcing, and re-telling in our present that will also live in the future? What is the interplay between monumentality and the people? How do we create new monuments that are as diverse as we are? And not a mere representation of a single man on a horse elevated above us in a public space, or an ancient architectural edifice situated in a place as a dominant display of power and wealth.
Collage of U.S. Monuments
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or decades now, controversial discussions on the importance of legacies, and the meaning of public monuments and memorials are taking place worldwide. However, only recently, prompted by the recent public manifestation of dissent against the history of racism in the U.S., many monuments, memorials, and public spaces have become much more ‘visible’ to the public eye. Monuments are deeply rooted in navigating notions of power and patronage. Who has the agency to create them leverages the ability to mark spaces and shape references. The etymology of the word monument comes from the Latin derivative of monere, meaning, “something that reminds,” or “bring to (one’s) recollection a story.” The stories the monuments tell are significant as they shape our narratives and guide us towards
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During the recent BLM protests, public spaces in New York City have been appropriated by the people to fulfill their true essence as spaces for the assertion of political and cultural rights. As people come together to fill the streets, parks, and squares of the city, questions about the intention behind the long-lasting colonialist statues/symbols occupying the public domain started to arise. One vivid and controversial example of that was the statue of former American President Theodore Roosevelt in front of the American Museum of Natural History. The statue was commissioned back in 1925 and it depicts Roosevelt on a horse with a native American man and an African American man on foot at his side. The monument has been criticized as being racist and became a cultural flashpoint. In June 2020, NYC’s Public Design Commission voted to remove it, calling it a depiction of subjugation and racial inferiority. This request was prompted by BLM protests. The Statue was moved on a long-term loan to The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential
