January 27, 2021 Join Next City for the first of two virtual conversations in our series, “The Future of Monumentality,” as we examine the past, present, and future of public monuments from the unique intersection of art, design, and urbanism. The speaker series, moderated by New York Times critic Salamishah Tillet, is co-presented in partnership with the High Line. In 2020 communities around the world protested the institutional racism of police violence toward Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people—the same people who have experienced disproportionately devastating health effects and economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the most powerful symbols engaged by these protests has been the removal and defacing of monuments, as well as their use as focal points and backdrops for rallies, speeches, performances, and collections of protest signs. And as the disturbing insurrection in Washington, D.C., has shown, white supremacists continue to wield and deface monuments as violent expressions of power and threat.