The removal in Colombia of dozens of artworks and historical elements in its National Museum related to LGBTQ+ history, feminism, student movements, and the armed conflict has sparked widespread controversy across the country.
The transfer occurred last Friday, October 16, the same day that President Abelardo de la Espriella announced a “fight against wokism” during a speech at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
In the days since, protests have been staged outside the museum and a judge has blocked the destruction, alteration, or transfer of the artefacts outside the institution.
“The perversity of turning culture into an indoctrination mechanism, especially for children and teenagers, is over. The state’s function must be to guarantee cultural freedom, not to fabricate an official culture that serves the government in power,” said the recently-inaugurated far-right president.
The term “wokism” is currently used by conservative and right-wing leaders, including Abelardo de la Espriella, who argue that progressive agendas are part of a broader strategy for mass manipulation.
“The state has a moral and political duty to prevent cultural spaces from being captured by social-communism. The cultural counter-revolution will start right here,” de la Espriella said, pointing out that priority will be given to the protection of Catholic religious symbols.
Protests and academic rejection
The empty walls of one of Latin America’s oldest museums have fueled public outrage.
Citizens, artists, and teachers gathered in front of the National Museum on October 17 and 18 to protest against the recent measures supported by the Ministers of Education and Culture, arguing political censorship and memory manipulation.
Over the following days, prominent academic institutions and arts faculties from major universities such as Universidad de los Andes, Universidad del Rosario, and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, among others, expressed their strong disagreement with the administration’s actions.
“Curatorship is not a theme decided at the last minute, but rather the product of a process of source review and investigation where a selection of historical and artistic pieces is made,” explained Lisa Priscila Bustos Jiménez, medical museologist and professor at El Bosque University.
“The National Museum should not interpret a single voice nor impose a vision of a country’s history,” Bustos added.
On Tuesday, October 20, teachers from different universities arrived to give open classes in front of the National Museum.
Judicial setback
The controversy reached the legal sphere in what represents a major judicial setback for the administration, as the 24th Family Judge of Bogotá, César Enrique Osorio, imposed a precautionary measure on Tuesday prohibiting the destruction, alteration, or transfer of the artworks outside the facilities of the National Museum.
Adding to this, the Defensoría del Pueblo – the national human rights ombudsman – issued an official statement calling on the Minister of Culture, Paola Holguín, to clarify the decision.
The entity requested full information on the removed pieces, the legal grounds behind the measures, their current state of conservation, and whether they will be returned to the museum. It is unclear where the artefacts are being stored following their removal.
The Defensoría added that history and culture must include all perspectives, stating that no artistic expression or collective memory should be excluded for political or ideological reasons.
The banished items
One of the biggest controversies involves the removal of works related to Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, who led the urban leftist guerrilla group M-19 in the late 1980s, an organization to which former President Gustavo Petro (2022-2026) also belonged and which de La Espriella criticized as promoting criminal admiration.
Pizarro led the peace process with the government at the time and launched a presidential campaign before he was assassinated shortly after.
Senator María Pizarro, his daughter, led protests and condemned the heavy-handed police response, including the use of water cannons.
The removal of items related to leftist leaders assassinated in the late twentieth century also impacted the memory of Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa, a politician, lawyer, and leader of the Patriotic Union party (UP) formed as part of the peace agreements of that era.
Jaramillo, who became one of the most prominent figures of the democratic left at the time, was also assassinated while running for the presidency in 1990.
“Museums’ objective must be to verify that the history being told through the selected objects has been contrasted with sources, subjected to criteria of veracity, and put into dialogue with its significance,” said Bustos. “That also means listening to what communities, social actors, and movements have to say, welcoming different voices.”
According to Colombian news outlet La Silla Vacía, nearly 30 percent of the removed pieces are associated with LGBTQ+ causes.
The banished items include a pride flag donated by Elizabeth Castillo, a prominent lawyer, writer, and pioneer of lesbian rights activism in Colombia.
The collection also featured historical archives such as issues of Ventana Gay, the country’s first gay rights publication founded in 1980, along with photographs documenting early pride demonstrations.
Feminist heritage was also affected, as seven works were taken down from the museum.
The items included the country’s first feminist publications, the manifesto from the 1978 campaign for contraception and abortion, and a 1989 poster for the campaign opposing violence against women.
“The communities that saw themselves represented may now feel ignored and feel that their contributions to history are not being valued or made visible,” said the medical museologist. “It is not that removing an object erases a historical moment, but it does eliminate a space for dialogue where the prominence of that social actor was being shown.”
La Silla Vacia also revealed that the removal heavily impacted items related to the recent armed conflict and democratic history.
Among the banished pieces was the symbolic bullet pen known as El Balígrafo, used to sign the 2016 peace accord between the FARC guerrillas and the Colombian government under President Juan Manuel Santos.
“The history and memory of a country are not erased. On the contrary, they are protected and used to unite us as a nation, not to divide us,” former President Santos stated on X. “Caring for our heritage is honoring who we are, who we were, and what we can be together.”
The removed items from these permanent galleries also included the original voting ballot for the Séptima Papeleta, the 1990 student movement that catalyzed the drafting of Colombia’s current Constitution.
As the pieces remain hidden, the shift toward a state-led cultural counter-revolution has ignited a broader debate that continues to expand, with academic and legal institutions taking a leading role in defending pluralism.
Featured image description: Main facade of the Museo Nacional.
Featured image credit: Felipe Restrepo Acosta via Wikimedia Commons.
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