Minister Grlić Radman talks Meštrović’s sculptures with Chicago officials

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman told reporters that Chicago city council members and deputy mayor had assured him it was unlikely that Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović's monument to American Indians (The Bowman and the Spearman) would be removed.

Today I have received first-hand information from the deputy mayor and city council members that the city council is not considering the removal of that monument, which makes us happy, Grlić Radman told reporters in Chicago.

Meštrović's "Indians" is one of the 41 monuments in Chicago whose fate requires a public discussion according to a list compiled by the Chicago Monuments Project, established in order to deal with Chicago's history, in February last year.

The two sculptures, which have stood in Chicago's Grand Park since 1928, are on the list due to "their romanticized and reductive images of American Indians".

Grlić Radman said he had posed the question about Meštrović's monument several times and had been assured Croatia could be optimistic and that no one believed it would be wise to remove the monument given its significance.

He stressed Meštrović's monument was part of American cultural heritage and a brand of Chicago.

Grlić Radman said that Croatian diplomats had immediately talked with the most important representatives of the initiative and representatives of the Indian community, from whom they "received support for that monument".

In Chicago, Grlić Radman also met with the Croatian community living there.

He thanked them for their financial and humanitarian aid to Croatia during the Homeland War and for making US and world politicians aware of the necessity of recognising Croatia.

The minister also met with Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas for talks on double taxation avoidance agreement.

Text: Hina/MFEA

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