The French Student Protesters Subverting Monuments Like It's May 68
Demonstrators are upending the country’s public landmarks to denounce police violence, under-resourced schools, and a worsening cost-of-living crisis.
In 1968, French students ignited a revolution by subverting public statues to express their discontent with the education system and Gaullist government. The May 2 closure of Paris Nanterre University sparked protests that spread to the Sorbonne, where students hung portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Chairman Mao Zedong on the facade's pillars and placed red revolutionary flags on the statues of Louis Pasteur and Victor Hugo.
During a May 13 demonstration, students climbed atop the Monument à la République, personifying the French Republic, and used it as a meeting point for fellow protesters. Today, French students are still addressing similar issues, such as under-resourced schools and a worsening cost-of-living crisis, by incorporating public monuments and culturally significant sites into their actions.
For instance, they draped the Monument à la République in a white garment that read "Neglected high schools, youth sacrificed," highlighting poor labor conditions, staff shortages, and grueling hours in the education system. Meanwhile, students from the École du Louvre blocked the Louvre Museum's entrance, and in Marseille, protesters broke into the city hall and knocked down a bust of Marianne.
These actions echo the spirit of May 1968, where students transformed monuments into tools for political expression.
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