As the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) officially welcomes visitors to its brand-new building , a group of Mexican cultural workers is opposing the display of a new sculpture by Pedro Reyes inspired by monumental Olmec busts. The work echoes a contentious 2021 public commission by Reyes that was ultimately scrapped by Mexico City’s government after protests from feminist and Indigenous advocates.

In a new open letter endorsed by nearly 80 Mexican critics, artists, and academics — including writers Maria Minera and Gardi Emmelhainz; artists Carmen Argote, Laureana Toledo, and Lorena Wolffer; and curator Cuauhtémoc Medina — the signatories accused the museum of ignoring previous activism against the artist’s work in Mexico.

“​​We are deeply concerned about the fact that there was seemingly no one in the museum sensitive enough or well-informed about the controversy the sculpture generated in Mexico,” reads an English version of the letter shared with Hyperallergic .…