French Students Turn Statues Into Protest Art, Echoing May 68

On October 19, dozens of students from the École du Louvre blocked the main entrance of the Louvre Museum, forcing its closure. That same day in Marseille, a separate group broke into City Hall and knocked a bust of Marianne to the floor. The actions belong to a national student protest movement that is using France's public statues exactly as demonstrators did in May 1968.

How are monuments being used?

Earlier this month, protesters draped Léopold Morice's "Monument à la République" (1883) at Place de la République in Paris in a white garment reading, "Neglected high schools, youth sacrificed." The message denounced poor labor conditions, staff shortages, and grueling hours in the education system. On October 17, organizers gave the same statue of Marianne — the personification of the French Republic — a yellow vest bearing the words, "2026: The police mutilates high schoolers." The garment referenced the gilets jaunes protests of 2018–20 against rising fuel prices.

Demonstrators at the Place de la République also streaked the eyes of the allegorical figures Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity with black tears. The gesture suggested the country's detachment from the principles of the late 18th-century revolution, when civilians toppled statues of the monarchic order or replaced them with democratic symbols. The "Égalité" statue appeared graffitied with black tears and the phrase "Golden youth." A sign added to a sculptural relief read, "Save a high school student, eat a chicken" — a play on poulet, slang for police in French.

What happened in May 1968?

The historical parallels are direct. After Paris Nanterre University shut on May 2, 1968, demonstrators occupied the Sorbonne, hanging portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Chairman Mao Zedong from the 17th-century facade's pillars. They lodged red flags into the statues of scientist Louis Pasteur and writer Victor Hugo. On May 13, during a national general strike, protesters climbed atop the "Monument à la République" and claimed it as a gathering ground.

That same day, photojournalist Jean-Pierre Rey photographed Caroline de Bendern holding the Viet Cong flag in the Latin Quarter. The image, recalling Marianne in Eugène Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" (1830), earned de Bendern the nickname "Marianne of '68." Current protesters have revived the reference explicitly: banners read "Generation 67 brings you May 68" and "If you screw us over (or pull a fast one on us), we will give you a May 68." Youths climbed the Column of July monument in Paris on October 8 under a sign reading "Revolte International Gen-Z."

How violent has the police response been?

Police have arrested more than 6,100 people since the school protests began, overwhelmingly minors, according to France 24. Hundreds of students have been injured, the Guardian reported. French rights groups and lawyers have accused police of inflicting "war-like injuries" on teenagers. The New York Times reported that riot officers maimed a 14-year-old boy with a tear gas grenade in a Parisian suburb; the BBC documented officers beating others with batons.

Is this part of a global pattern?

Yes. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, activists in the United States and beyond brought down or defaced statues of Christopher Columbus, King Leopold II, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee — whose Richmond monument was reclaimed through graffiti, performance, and projections. In 2020, French protesters draped a black cloth over a statue of colonial administrator General Joseph Gallieni. In Toulouse this month, protesters placed a Palestinian flag atop a Joan of Arc statue wrapped in a yellow vest; authorities removed them promptly, sparking fierce online debate over whether the act attacked national identity or connected related human rights struggles. As clashes continue, France's statues will likely remain the movement's most visible stage.