“Antimonumenta”: artistic practice in feminist Mexico
Francesca Romana Gregori
research: Seminar
“Antimonumenta”: artistic practice in feminist Mexico
Francesca Romana Gregori
The artistic practice of Antimonuments consists of installing monumental sculptures in the public space, in order to protest against the government's failure to recognize human rights violations in the country. My research aims to fill the gap in the studies on this practice as a protest against gender-based violence, through the repressive response of the federal and local governments. Previous studies have analyzed countermonuments in postwar contexts while feminist antimonuments, especially Mexican antimonuments, have not yet been investigated by the academic community, aside from some recent contributions.
My research aims to fill this gap by investigating the practice in its threefold nature, namely as a commemoration of the lives of the victims, as a political demonstration and as works of public art.
Furthermore I intend to analyze antimonuments as political media of artivism, examining the historical context of the Mexican Federation and the socio-political structure of the various feminist groups involved, contextualizing these cases within the framework of the fight against gender violence and through a decolonization approach. My research aims to criticize the government's failings in properly commemorating the victims of gender-based violence in Mexico, within the perspective of symbolic restitution. In this sense, the value of antimonuments as difficult heritage according to the Faro Convention (2005) will be investigated, in light of the identifying value that such antimonuments represent for indigenous women in Mexico.
Biography
Francesca Romana Gregorio
Francesca Romana Gregori graduated with a MA in Art History at the University of Padua in 2022. She subsequently enrolled in the Post-Graduate School in Artistic and Historical Heritage at the University of Padua and obtained a 2nd level professional Master in Humanities at the Galilean School of Higher Education following a five years Honors college programme.
Her main research focus lies at the intersection between gender studies, memory studies and contemporary art. She has been investigating antimonuments in Mexico as a medium of demonstration within a feminist framework since 2021, following two research stays in France and the United States. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Visual Culture and Media Theory at the University of Milan within the ILF national doctoral programme.
research: seminar
“Antimonumenta”: artistic practice in feminist Mexico
Francesca Romana Gregori
The artistic practice of Antimonuments consists of installing monumental sculptures in the public space, in order to protest against the government's failure to recognize human rights violations in the country. My research aims to fill the gap in the studies on this practice as a protest against gender-based violence, through the repressive response of the federal and local governments. Previous studies have analyzed countermonuments in postwar contexts while feminist antimonuments, especially Mexican antimonuments, have not yet been investigated by the academic community, aside from some recent contributions.
My research aims to fill this gap by investigating the practice in its threefold nature, namely as a commemoration of the lives of the victims, as a political demonstration and as works of public art.
Furthermore I intend to analyze antimonuments as political media of artivism, examining the historical context of the Mexican Federation and the socio-political structure of the various feminist groups involved, contextualizing these cases within the framework of the fight against gender violence and through a decolonization approach. My research aims to criticize the government's failings in properly commemorating the victims of gender-based violence in Mexico, within the perspective of symbolic restitution. In this sense, the value of antimonuments as difficult heritage according to the Faro Convention (2005) will be investigated, in light of the identifying value that such antimonuments represent for indigenous women in Mexico.