Colombia museum removals draw protests as judge orders works preserved
Demonstrators gathered outside the National Museum in Bogotá after exhibits on social movements and political violence were removed. A judge has ordered the government to preserve the works and refrain from further changes at the museum.
Colombia’s National Museum in Bogotá has taken down exhibits on social movements and political violence, drawing a protest outside the building on October 21 as President Abelardo de la Espriella pursues a wider cultural campaign, according to the Associated Press. Dozens of demonstrators gathered while riot police guarded the entrance. A Bogotá judge had ordered the government on October 19 to refrain from further changes at the museum and preserve the removed works, EL PAÍS reported.
The removed exhibits addressed feminist and LGBTQ+ activism as well as Colombia’s political violence, AP reported. EL PAÍS reported that the Culture Ministry ordered 30 works removed from the museum’s permanent Hacer Sociedad exhibition. It identified objects connected with LGBTQ+ history, feminist leaders, student activism and two left-wing leaders killed in 1990.
Why the National Museum exhibits were removed
De la Espriella has called the campaign a cultural ‘counterrevolution’. He said the previous week that he wanted to prevent what he termed ‘atheist social communism’ from taking over cultural institutions. EL PAÍS reported the government’s conservative-values rationale for the removals.
Civil-rights groups, artists and students have accused the government of censorship and warned that parts of Colombia’s history could be erased. History student Azul Riascos told AP he found the removals outrageous, arguing that the government was promoting a vision of Colombia that excluded Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities.
Court order and reviews at other museums
The October 19 order concerns further changes at the National Museum and preservation of the works removed there, according to EL PAÍS. Culture Minister Paola Holguin said the government was reviewing and redesigning exhibitions and curatorial practices at other museums overseen by her ministry. AP also reported that the Foreign Ministry renamed a courtyard that had honoured an Indigenous leader, describing the change as part of the president’s campaign against ‘woke’ ideology.
Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, the Washington Office on Latin America’s director for the Andes, linked the government’s approach to political narratives used by allies of US President Donald Trump. In July, the White House criticised leaders of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and ordered signs warning visitors about allegedly inaccurate exhibits. The museum’s director disputed the White House’s characterisation; AP reported that the signs had still not been installed nearly three months later.
Read in depth: World
Yonsei says portal breach exposed data of about 10,000 people
The Seoul university says current and former students, faculty and international students are affected. It plans to let individuals check which details were exposed.
New Zealand’s Labour Weekend forecast brings heat to some regions and heavy rain to others
Canterbury and parts of the eastern North Island are forecast to have warm days, while a Labour Day front could bring heavy rain and strong winds to the South Island.
Sources and context
- Colombian president purges National Museum of works promoting ‘communism’Al Jazeera / The Associated Press
- Colombia’s government under fire over removals at the National MuseumEL PAÍS English
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.