Artist James Colomina posted his work without permission less than a month ago
The City Council has withdrawn this weekend the sculpture ‘Humanity’, which for a month replaced that of the slaver Antonio López in the square of the same name in Barcelona. This new sculpture, the work of James Colomina, appeared by surprise less than a month agoand, although the council said that they would leave it there momentarily, they have ended up removing it, reports Betevé.
In fact, the installation of the sculpture was done without municipal permission, and, as Colomina explained, it was a claim action due to its proximity to the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Spain.
Colomina took advantage of the fact that the statue of Antonio López had been removed due to his slave-owning past to install his work. The removal of the statue was also prompted by the imminent name change of the site. From now on, this space will give rise to two nominally differentiated squares: the Idrissa Diallo -in memory of a young Guinean who died nine years ago in the Foreigners Internment Center (CIE) of the Zona Franca- and that of mail.
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‘Humanity’ was made up of two red figures embracing each other: a stuffed bone figure and a child representing what is inside every adult. In the artist’s words, the sculpture also “evokes the positive relationship between differences in skin color, gender, race and religion.”
From the City Council they explained to Betevé that, “at the time it was already said that it was an ephemeral work of art” and that therefore, “it would be left for a while”. Now, she has been transferred to the municipal warehouses waiting for the artist to pick her up.