Occupying and Deconstructing — the Symbolic Toppling of Statues of Colonizers Through the Devolta Series, by Diambe da Silva
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This paper aims to articulate the movement of toppling statues, symbols of colonization and slavery, with the choreographic performance of artist Diambe da Silva in the city of Rio de Janeiro between 2019 and 2020. First, we contextualize the social and symbolic role of statutes in public space and how art is a vector of change through a brief bibliographic review of articles and texts, which highlight the problem of statues of controversial personalities that are still preserved and maintained in public spaces and how authorities and citizens have addressed this issue in recent years. Next, we analyze Diambre’s work, based on the choice of statues and their location in Rio de Janeiro. For the paper, we selected three choreographies from the Devolta series that took place by the statues of the historical figures of Dom Pedro I, Dom João VI, and Princess Isabel, recurring personalities in the narratives of Brazilian colonial history and who played central and controversial roles when we review the constructed narrative of a country that, from a colony, went to become an empire and, finally, was recognized as a republic. Through choreography, a new symbolic meaning is given to the statues, located in prominent areas of the city, well-known noble areas, the Copacabana neighborhood, and the commercial center of the city, which was the last residential space of the Portuguese monarchy in Brazil. By linking Andre Lepecki’s concepts of choreopolice and choreopolitics to Diambe’s work, together with Achille Mbembe’s thoughts on the fate of statues that represent an oppressive colonial past, the paper does a critical reading of the role of statues today, based on the artist’s work.
decolonial, coreopolítica, monumentos, artes do corpo, derrubadadecolonial, coreopolítica, monumentos, derrocamiento, artes del cuerpodecolonial, choreopolitics, monuments, toppling, body arts
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