The Inca in the Plaza: debating change in the World Heritage historic urban centre of Cusco, Peru

ABSTRACT

A statue known locally as the ‘Piel Roja’ (‘Red Skin’, a Native American in leggings, mocassins, cape, and carrying a bow and arrow) stood atop the Belle Époque fountain in the centre of Cusco’s Plaza de Armas for almost a century until it was toppled in 1969. The fountain remained without a crowning element until 2011 when the then mayor erected a new statue, representing an Inca king, atop it. The ongoing controversy over this statue can serve as a point of departure for interrogating tolerance for change in the public space of historic urban centres, informed by consideration of the relationship between memory, emotion, identity and place.

KEYWORDS:

• Historic urban centres
• heritage management
• memory
• change
• public space

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Independently, in June 2014, the Organisation of World Heritage Cities reached its own parallel conclusion, stating that although there should have been coordination between the Municipality and the DRCC, the Municipality was legally empowered to authorise the execution of works of intervention in the city and that the statue should not be considered an attack on the cultural patrimony.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helaine Silverman

Helaine Silverman is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Director of the Collaborative for Cultural Heritage Management and Policy (CHAMP) there. This paper presents part of her long-term research in Cusco.