Three years after the statue of the Italian navigator was removed from the main avenue in the Mexican capital, and as the world remembers his discovery of America, the four-meter bronze figure, weighing over a ton, awaits its future under a tent at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) facilities.
Authorities removed the statue on October 10, 2020, from Paseo de la Reforma to restore it after it was targeted with various graffiti. However, in the following months, the city government announced that it would not return, and instead, they would place a sculpture honoring indigenous women in its place.
This decision came amid an ongoing debate about the glorification of colonization and the removal of monuments in various countries, including some dedicated to Christopher Columbus.
Diego Jáuregui, a restorer at INAH and head of the team responsible for cleaning the monument, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the statue was completely restored by the end of 2022 and is currently located in INAH’s workshops until a decision is made regarding its reinstallation.
The Columbus statue was part of a bronze ensemble, which included the standing figure of the explorer and four seated friars around him.
Jáuregui explained that all the pieces were cleaned of dirt and paint, as well as varnishes and waxes that had been applied at some point.
Columbus statues have been targeted in various countries and have even been toppled, such as in Chile, Colombia, and the United States. In Mexico, the navigator’s figure was graffitied on several occasions.
These attacks tend to increase as the October 12, the day Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492, approaches.
In 2021, the then-mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced that the Columbus statue would definitively not return to Paseo de la Reforma.
A few months ago, the sculpture of the “Joven de Amajac” (Young Woman of Amajac) was finally placed in the spot where Columbus had stood.
City authorities said the statue was a symbol of indigenous peoples, communities, and women.
For Jáuregui, regardless of the controversies, he has a role to fulfill as a restorer.
For now, in the workshops of the National Institute of Anthropology, the Columbus statue lies on supports, gazing toward the sky, waiting for a new location to be found.
TYT Newsroom
