In 2017, a replica of the ancient Greek Parthenon, widely acknowledged to be the first symbol of democracy, was erected in Kassel, Germany. Built from 100,000 banned books, it was the creation of Argentinian artist Marta Minujin and erected on the site where thousands of banned books were burned by Nazi supporters in 1933.
The Parthenon of Banned Book, as seen in the image above by Roman Marz, was built from works collected from around the world, then attached to a steel structure and wrapped in plastic sheeting, both to protect them from the elements and to let natural light shine through the building. Literally shining light on the literature.
Modelled after what she says is “the aesthetic and political ideals of the world’s first democracy” her anti-repression statement was her modern-day response to the book burnings of the Nazi era. Books by Jewish, pacifist, religious, liberal and other political writers were burned to cleanse German society of all thought that Hitler deemed “un-German.”
Minujin, a conceptual and performance artist, was born in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires in 1943. While studying at Argentina’s National University Art Institute, she received a scholarship to travel to Paris. There she was exposed to avant-garde artists who were experimenting with large scale events based on political and cultural ideas. Her response was to create her own happenings, earning her a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966.
Relocating to New York for her fellowship, she left Argentina at the same time a military coup d’etat turned the government of Argentina into a dictatorship. During this regime, artworks like hers were censored and banned. She remained in New York, creating works that included psychedelic and pop art installations and befriended artists of the era like Andy Warhol.
In 1983 the regime collapsed and Minujin returned to Argentina as the country returned to democracy. Her first project was to create a series of reproductions of Greek statues and Argentine landmarks, made out of materials such as cheese and bread.
Minujin’s then erected her first parthenon on the Ninth of July Avenue in Buenos Aires. An homage to the importance of freedom of expression, she used 30,000 banned books. This served as a model for the one she would build in Germany. Both projects were built as temporary structures and when they were dismantled the books were distributed to readers throughout the world.
Minujin continues to work in Argentina, using her art to promote her political and cultural beliefs based on her personal motto that “everything is art.”