A monumental sculpture by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles celebrating trans existence and resilience has been installed in London’s iconic Trafalgar Square, where it will remain through the end of 2025.
The artwork features 726 facial casts of trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people, mounted on a cuboid structure resembling a tzompantli—a type of rack or altar used by several Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Aztecs, to display the skulls of war captives or sacrificial victims.
Titled “Mil Veces un Instante,” the sculpture serves as a reminder of the murders and disappearances of LGBTQ+ individuals, Margolles told London media outlets. It is dedicated to her friend Karla, a trans woman murdered in Ciudad Juárez in December 2015.
The piece has been installed on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, an empty pedestal used as a platform for temporary art installations that provoke thought and discussion. The project is managed by the Mayor of London’s office, Arts Council England, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Like many other works of art that have been displayed in this prominent London public space, “Mil Veces un Instante” has garnered criticism, as well as appreciation, mostly due to what detractors see as abstract irrelevance and “woke” content. One can assume, however, that few of the critics have spent any time researching the cultural and historic background to this work of art, or an issue that affects an important minority in Mexico.