Three-metre Moche erotic replicas face removal from Trujillo park

By Elena Vasquez

Three-metre fibreglass reproductions of Moche erotic ceramics stand in Parque de la Fertilidad (Fertility Park), outside Trujillo, in northern Peru. Senator Milagros Jáuregui has asked Peru’s culture ministry to remove them from the public park.

What prompted the removal call?

The controversy drew renewed attention after Jáuregui spoke on 26 October. A conservative senator from Renovación Popular and an evangelical pastor, she centred her intervention on children and the images they encounter.

“Neurological and psychological factors are affected, because they see body dimensions that are completely different from how they see themselves,” Jáuregui said.

In 2021, Arturo Fernández, then mayor of the Moche district, began installing giant fibreglass reproductions of ceramic depictions of sexual acts. He placed them in the park to promote tourism.

The smaller originals, known as huacos eróticos, date from the 3rd to 8th century AD. Alva said they were created to be placed in tombs as burial offerings. They measure no more than 30cm in height.

The park works are at least 10 times the originals’ 30cm maximum height. That scale shift from burial offering to tourism display defines the dispute.

What does Walter Alva say about context?

Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva called the issue “complicated.” He said: “There’s freedom to express or re-create themes from the past, but these ceramics were created to be placed as offerings to the dead, with a sense of revitalising life. They are associated with both fertility and an entire system of beliefs.”

Alva placed the pre-Incan Moche civilisation along 700km of what is now Peru’s coast, between Piura and Ancash, centuries before Inca domination.

“Moche art is primarily ceramic, and these vessels depict erotic scenes or concepts of sexuality from that era,” Alva said. “The sculptures in Fertility Park were created outside of their historical context.”

Alva accepts freedom to re-create the past but rejects severing these works from the funerary beliefs that produced the originals.

What does the Lord of Sipán discovery show?

Alva describes his 1987 discovery near Chiclayo as one of the Moche civilisation’s greatest archaeological finds: the tomb of the 3rd-century Lord of Sipán.

The monarch’s body was found covered with gold, alongside eight other people, one dog and two llamas. Nearly 500 objects included ceramic vessels, ornaments and textiles.

The find places Moche art within a major funerary system, strengthening Alva’s argument that public replicas lose essential context.

How does the Larco Museum handle erotic ceramics?

The Art Newspaper reports that the Moche hold the largest number of erotic representations among pre-Hispanic civilisations. Their most complete ceramic collection sits in Lima, at the Larco Museum of pre-Columbian art.

The museum celebrated its centennial in July, marking 100 years. Before the 1960s, children could not enter the room housing the huacos. Today, minors must be accompanied by an adult. Its Erotic Gallery ranks among the museum’s most popular attractions.

Jáuregui believes the sculptures belong only in closed spaces. She told congress: “Displaying these types of images in public is harmful to children. We should have them in museums, where high-school students can observe a part of our culture that is a national treasure with the help of teachers or some kind of tutor.”

Her proposal would replace unsupervised park display with teacher-led museum access. Any ministry decision on the removal request will determine whether the Trujillo landmark survives or gives way to that model.