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Male narrator In this aerial panorama from 1956, photojournalist Juan Di Sandro bends light to achieve a one-of-a-kind image of the most famous monument in Buenos Aires: the Obelisk. A bright white spike at the center of the 9 de Julio Avenue, it towers over two-hundred feet. At the time of this photo, it was taller than many of the buildings around it.
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This Obelisk had been built to commemorate the 400-year anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires. It also referenced another, smaller obelisk, erected in the Plaza de Mayo in 1811, on the anniversary of Argentine independence. In the city’s push for modernization, the 1936 monument was highly publicized and overshadowed the smaller, more classical version.
Curatorial Assistant, Fabian Leyva-Barragan.
Fabian Leyva-Barragan The obelisk is an icon that comes from ancient Egypt. These sculptures were regarded as petrified rays of the sun.
Male narrator Di Sandro artfully emphasizes that symbolism in his photograph.
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Fabian Leyva-Barragan This monument, captured by the camera, is radiating through the avenue, reflecting its lights onto the city of Buenos Aires. It creates this symbolic mythmaking of the city. There was this radiance that shone across the city before the eyes of all the citizens.
Male narrator The sun has a special significance in Argentine history. Legend has it that when Argentina proclaimed its independence from Spain in May of 1810, the sun broke through the clouds over Buenos Aires. The “Sol de Mayo” — Sun of May — became the nation’s foundational myth. An emblem of a sun was stamped on the first coin minted by the new country, and still blazes today at the center of the national flag.
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