When Monuments Fall

In The Destruction of Art, the art historian Dario Gamboni, wrote of the history of deliberate attacks against works of art in the 19th and 20th centuries.  In our sessions this week, we'll examine this as a problem for art.  We'll examine the choice to destroy artworks or to remove publicly displayed art or to censor artistic production and display.  Why do campaigns against art arise and why has the art under attack provoked this reaction against it?

During political crises or contested power struggles, art can be the target for opposition, censorship, removal or outright destruction.  In this session we'll look at some examples of the destruction of art and the choices that lead to the removal or replacement of art.  Some of the best examples come from France or Russia, where the removal of statues or public art commemorating the monarchy in France, or the communist system and state in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe were removed.

Some other examples are special consideration and discussion.  These include the destruction of the Buddhist monuments in Afghanistan.

This summer,

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