Montanelli statue, student collectives claim defacement. Here is video of the action

Two student collectives in Milan (LUME - Laboratorio Universitario Metropolitano and Rete Studenti Milano) have claimed the defacement of the Montanelli statue, which on Saturday evening was covered with red paint, while the words “racist rapist” were spray-painted on the base. On its Facebook page, LUME also posted video of the action.

“We are convinced that, without a proper critical revision, history cannot be defined as such,” the students wrote in a note. “It must be understood as living matter, subject to change, and we cannot pretend not to know that the statues celebrating its protagonists have a collective social function, because they occupy public space by representing what a ruling class decides to celebrate of its own history. At such an important global moment-which from all parts of the world sees us capable of breaking barriers and tearing down idols of a world that no longer needs to exist-we believe that figures such as Indro Montanelli’s are detrimental to the imagination of tuttx. A colonialist who made slavery an important part of his political activity cannot and should not be celebrated in the public square. In a city like Milan, a gold medal winner in the Resistance, the statue of Indro Montanelli is a contradiction that we can no longer accept.”

“We cannot accept,” the statement continues, “that people who have made slavery, colonialism, misogyny, fascism and racism a mentality with very few second thoughts be venerated as examples to be imitated. With this gesture we also want to remind ourselves that, as global movements such as Not One Less and Black Lives Matter have taught us and continue to teach us, all struggles are the same struggle, in an intersectional mechanism of transforming the present and the future. If the world we want is slow in coming, we will change it.”

Video and communiqué were posted as early as Sunday, the day after the gesture: however, the motivations were not enough to avoid a strong wave of criticism, so much so that LUME then retaliated with a second, much more caustic note, where the collective declares its desire to create debate around the figure of Indro Montanelli, and where, however also launches an invective against “the affluent white men of Italian public opinion,” who, “together with the fascistume they have managed to gather along the way, have lashed out in defense of the immeasurable artistic value of a 2006 statue.” “We have been accused of wanting to erase history,” LUME activists write. “But a bronze statue is not a library: it is meant to be admired, not taught. Even if we wanted to give the statue an educational function, we believe that with our addition to the words ’journalist’ of the words ’racist, rapist’ the statue could give a much more complete and coherent idea of the figure of #Montanelli (who we recall lived until 2001, certainly not in 500 B.C.). It is just a statue, of poor artistic value, covered with a bit of washable red paint, which the fascio-spongers promptly and effortlessly cleaned up. From the way liberals and well-thinking people all over Italy have raged to oppose this gesture of ’unprecedented violence’ (which affects not people, but things), it seems clear that they are no longer defending just a statue, but something more: namely, the racism, fascism, and misogyny that permeate the ideology of the ruling class and its servants. That one of the most important parks in Milan should be dedicated to a pedophile colonialist is an insult to all those who every day in the ’most avant-garde city in Italy’ are victims of racism, sexism and all kinds of discrimination.”

Montanelli statue, student collectives claim defacement. Here is video of the action

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.