Dances with despots: tourists and the afterlife of statues

In times of liquid modernity, when human lifespan often exceeds that grand political structures, monumental statues continue to be built and celebrated as symbols enduring ideological triumphs. their apparent permanence, these outlive the systems they were designed glorify, creating a dilemma how exhibit ambiguous or disgraced presence. this article, we argue heritagization figures pasts is central reframing such narratives tourists have key, if sometimes unwitting, role play in shaping emerging imaginaries. Focusing on statue parks Central Eastern Europe showcasing communist-era sculptures, examine strategies exhibition tourist responses multivalent presence monuments past regimes. We identify four approaches destruction, delegitimization, decontextualization, depoliticization, each tied particular moment rhetorical goal. Examining shifting modes preservation, presentation interpretation, query tourists’ participants processes stabilization peace-building, proposing global re-evaluation symbolism monuments, sites can serve guide much needed analysis reflection.