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Portrait of a sculptor |
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On the occasion of 1st May 1999 the Pillar of Shame was set up on the Zócalo in the Mexican capital. For two days the sculpture towered in front of the Parliament to pillory the oppression of the indigenous people. |
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The Pillar found its final site at the entrance of the village of Acteal in Chiapas where 45 unarmed indigenous people were slaughtered by a paramilitary group on 22nd December ’97. The erection of the sculpture was attended be hundreds of local people. |
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On 22nd December 2003, the 6th anniversary of the massacre plates in the local language Tzotzil were donated to the inhabitants of Acteal. In the first place the plates on the Pillar were in Spanish and English - languages that many indigenous people do not understand. The Tzotzil plates were a way of meeting the indigenous peoples’ growing linguistic self consciousness. |