Monument to Belén María

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 1982 · Authors: Federico Hernández Corujo "Fillo"

This ensemble commemorates a tragic event, the death by car accident of Belén María Sánchez Ojeda at the age of 16, when she was attending, together with her parents, a dockworkers' demonstration held in July 1980.

[...] it was initially located in a circular small square with a picón (volcanic gravel) covering, interrupted by the formation of several paved radial corridors, which allowed pedestrians to access the monument. In the spaces formed between them numerous objects alluding to maritime activities were distributed: bollards, anchors, lighthouses and even a boat [...] this decoration helped to highlight the popular character of the tribute.

In 1985, when sections VI and VII of the so-called Autovía del Sur, which starts precisely from the roundabout, were built, the City Council dismantled the ensemble, committing to reinstall it once the works were completed. And it did so, only this time dispensing with the fountain that had previously served as its base and erecting a construction resembling a lighthouse; in a niche opened in the front part it placed the sculptural piece, with all the popular decorations disappearing in this remodelling.

The representation of Belén María, with a strong allegorical tone, emerges in high relief from a two-metre-high sea wave; new motifs related to the sea, the bollard and fish, and a dove symbolising peace were illustrated on it. For the depiction of the young woman the author had several photographs provided by the family, hence the great physical resemblance observed, although her features, somewhat exaggerated, give it a pathetic sense and a marked expressionist connotation. The ensemble is therefore a concave surface with some movement manifested by Belén María's hair, which seems driven by the wind.

The monument, made in 1982 from artificial granite, to which colouring was added to imitate bronze, was sculpted by Federico Hernández Corujo, familiarly known as Fillo. This artist was born in La Aldea de San Nicolás in 1948 and at 18 years old began at the Luján Pérez School [...].

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