Monumento

The Monumento exhibition was staged inside a historic airplane hangar in Coconut Grove, Florida, originally built in 1933 as the Pan American Airways terminal. This same hangar later became a site of profound political significance: in 1963, it served as the processing center for the captured Bay of Pigs veterans upon their return to the United States. Over the five days the exhibition was open, more than 3,000 visitors attended. On the fifth day, the installation was vandalized, resulting in the destruction of most of the artwork.

The Bay of Pigs invasion marked a pivotal moment in U.S. history. The CIA-backed attempt to overthrow the Castro dictatorship became one of the most consequential foreign policy failures of the 20th century, fueling sympathy for revolutionary movements and growing skepticism toward U.S. foreign intervention, tensions that would culminate in widespread dissent during the Vietnam War.