The art of desecrating the nation's monuments

This visual essay analyzes the episode of censorship of the artwork “1 Bolsominion”, by André Parente, which led to the cancellation of the exhibition Desmonumento at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Rio Grande do Sul, in July 2023. The arguments of the characters involved are presented, as well as the characteristics of the artwork in question and others that make up the exhibition. The artist's interest in Brazil's sociopolitical situation since June 2013, through the critical moments of President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment and culminating in Bolsonaro's administration, form the critical landscape of Desmonumento's set of works. I examine the creative gesture of defacing national symbols carried out by Parente as a detonator of a socially transgressive and sacred force, with effects on the construction of the nation's memory.

Keywords:
Desmonumento ; defacing; art; sacred; politics.