Tlali (Nahuatl languages: Tlalli: land or earth; ) is a sculpture of an Indigenous woman by Mexican contemporary artist Pedro Reyes. It was installed at a new wing opening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in April 2026. A similar large-scale version head was intended to replace the Monument to Christopher Columbus on Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma, while a smaller version was exhibited at the Lisson Gallery in New York City in May 2021. The version intended for Paseo de la Reforma was inspired by the Olmec colossal heads and was meant to honor 500 years of the resistance of Indigenous women. The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced in September 2021 that Tlali would replace the monument to Columbus, which had been removed from its plinth in October 2020, officially for restoration. The announcement, design, name, and selection of Reyes as the sculptor of the Reforma sculpture, as well the undiscussed removal of the Columbus statue, received mixed opinions. Days later, following criticism, Sheinbaum said that a committee would determine the project's future, and in October she stated that a copy of The Young Woman of Amajac, discovered earlier that year, would be placed there instead. Although the Mexico City government never formally declared the project canceled, journalists and scholars have generally regarded it as such. The version installed at the LACMA lacks several features present in the original Mexico City proposal and, according to the museum, differs in both purpose and meaning. Nevertheless, it received criticism linked to the earlier project in Mexico City.
Background: Mexico City project
Inception In the context of the commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire and present-day Mexico City, the city government announced several changes and celebrations to take place in 2021. Tlali was set to replace a monument honoring the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus, originally located on a roundabout along Paseo de la Reforma, in Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. The statue of Columbus was removed on 10 October 2020, prior to an attempted demonstration to topple it two days later, on Columbus Day. According to the city government, it was removed amid a series of restoration works carried out by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The head of government of the city, Claudia Sheinbaum, said public debates would be held in 2021 to determine the future of the monument. On the other hand, the Committee for Monuments and Artistic Works in Public Spaces (Comité de Monumentos y Obras Artísticas en Espacios Públicos, COMAEP) is responsible for evaluating, approving, and overseeing the installation, relocation, and conservation of monuments and public artworks in Mexico City. On 5 September 2021, International Indigenous Women's Day, Sheinbaum announced that the statue of Columbus would not be returned to its original site. Instead, a relocation to Parque América, Polanco, was proposed. She also said that Tlali would replace the statue of Columbus, to honor 500 years of the resistance of Indigenous women, and that the relocation was not intended to "erase history" but to "deliver social justice". She also mentioned that the decision was taken after receiving 5,000 signatures from Indigenous women who called to "decolonize Paseo de la Reforma".
Description
Tlali was sculpted by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes. He explained that the government had chosen him because there were few sculptors in the country specializing in monumental stonework and that the project had to be completed before March 2022. Tlali was planned to be made of volcanic rock and, before the project was canceled, was being sculpted in three workshops located in Iztapalapa, Chimalhuacán, and Coyoacán by women artisans and sculptors. In Coyoacán, where Reyes also lives, 150 stone blocks were produced for the creation of the sculpture, each measuring 75 centimeters (30 in) in height and weighing 2 metric tons (2.0 long tons; 2.2 short tons). This division facilitates transportation. Reyes said he felt honored to be selected to sculpt it, as there are no monuments honoring Indigenous women in the country, who, in his view, "have supported the country". The sculpture was titled Tlali, from the Nahuatl word tlalli, meaning "land" or "earth". He stated that the sculpture reflected the common association of the Earth with "Mother Earth" rather than "Father Earth". The sculpture was based on Olmec art, created by the Olmecs, a pre-Columbian civilization that developed during the Mesoamerican Preclassic Era. Reyes was inspired by the Olmec colossal heads and said he had difficulty transforming Tlali into a female figure since the original heads were based on men. Tlali was projected to be a head 6.5 meters (21 ft) high, supported by an additional 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) tezontle base. Its diameter would have been 5 m (16 ft) with an approximate weight of 150 metric tons (150 long tons; 170 short tons). The eyes were inspired by those of a jaguar, and the lips were modeled on two snakes. For the hair, a pair of braids that converge at the occipital region were chosen to form a symbol of Nahui Ollin, the Earthquake Sun. According to Reyes, he first designed the figure to have a bun but anthropologists told him that pre-Hispanic cultures used braids that imitated the appearance of ears of ergots.
Reception The announcement, the proposed design and name, the selection of Reyes as sculptor, and the removal of the Columbus statue without prior public discussion all drew polarized reactions. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador supported the decision to install the sculpture. Similarly, local representatives and senators from Morena – the ruling party of Mexico, of which Sheinbaum and López Obrador are members – endorsed the project. Congresswoman Alejandra Méndez Vicuña said the sculpture celebrated "Indigenous peoples and their women". For Representative Guadalupe Chávez Contreras, Tlali promotes "justice and recognition for all Indigenous women". Senator César Cravioto Romero said the project promotes a shift in the mindset of Mexicans, as it challenges the notion that foreign things are better.
Removal of the Columbus statue
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