Scenarios and User Story

The following sections present LLM generated scenarios describing controversial situations based on the statues we chose, considering both the perspectives of those who want to preserve them and those who want to remove them, and a complete user story based on the statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan.

🎬 Preservation and Removal sample user scenarios

1. Statue of Christopher Columbus at Pepperdine University - "Spring afternoon at Pepperdine University"

One spring afternoon at Pepperdine University, the statue of Christopher Columbus stood quietly on campus, but the debate around it had reached its peak. 🔴 Maya Johnson, a sociology junior and leader in the school’s Diversity and Inclusion group, saw the statue as a painful reminder of colonial violence and Indigenous erasure. Passing it daily left her feeling alienated, so she organized petitions, teach-ins, and wrote op-eds calling for its removal and replacement with art celebrating peace, inclusion, or Indigenous heritage. 🟢 Marco Bellini, a 1992 alumnus and Italian-American cultural leader, viewed the statue as honoring exploration and the struggles of Italian immigrants. He feared its removal would erase part of his community’s history and instead urged Pepperdine to add context through a plaque and education. ➡️ In the end, the university chose a middle ground: the statue was moved to a less prominent location, a plaque was added to explain its history, and a new memorial was commissioned to honor California’s Native peoples.

2. Statue of Carl Hagenbeck in Hamburg - "Thursday near Tierpark Hagenbeck"

On a Thursday evening in Hamburg, near Tierpark Hagenbeck, residents, historians, activists, and city officials gather for a community meeting about the future of the Carl Hagenbeck statue. 🟢 Anna Müller, a 52-year-old history teacher, speaks in favor of keeping the statue. She praises Hagenbeck’s innovations in zoo design and animal welfare but acknowledges the darker legacy of the human zoos. For Anna, the solution is education: plaques, QR codes, and school programs that confront history head-on rather than removing it. 🔴 Samuel Bako, a 29-year-old community organizer of Afro-German heritage, calls for the statue’s removal. For him, it is not just a historical marker but a celebration of a man who dehumanized people like his ancestors. He wants the statue moved to a museum and replaced with a memorial that honors those exploited in colonial exhibitions. ➡️ Tensions rise as the two visions clash, but a city official suggests a compromise: keeping the statue with strong critical reinterpretation and adding a nearby memorial. The meeting ends without a final decision, but with a shared understanding that the statue’s fate must balance history, memory, and justice.

3. Statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the University of Ghana - "a Monday morning at the University of Ghana"

On a Monday morning at the University of Ghana, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi stands at the center of a growing debate. 🔴 A young Ghanaian student activist joins classmates in protest, holding signs and circulating petitions. To them, the statue represents a colonial legacy and Gandhi’s early racist views, overshadowing African leaders who fought for freedom and dignity. They call for its removal and for public spaces to celebrate African figures instead. 🟢 A cultural officer from the Ministry of Culture argues for preserving the statue, framing Gandhi as a global symbol of peace and non-violence. They warn that removing it could harm relations with India and see it as an opportunity for education rather than erasure. Their proposal: add panels that contextualize Gandhi’s complex legacy and encourage dialogue. ➡️ The conflict remains unresolved, but the discussion opens the possibility of compromise — a participatory project that places Gandhi’s statue within a wider space of memory, one that also honors African leaders and invites critical reflection.

4. Statue of Mary Wollstonecraft in London - "A chilly autumn morning in 202O near the Houses of Parliament in London"

On a chilly autumn morning in 2020, a new statue was unveiled in London near the Houses of Parliament: Mary Wollstonecraft, rendered nude in a striking contemporary style by artist Maggi Hambling. 🟢 For Hambling and supporters of the MOTG campaign, the statue is a bold celebration of female strength and authenticity. They see the nudity not as scandal but as a statement of liberation, a reminder of the raw, universal power of womanhood. Supporters attend events and tours, believing the work sparks vital conversations about women’s history and empowerment. Critics, however, view the piece differently. 🔴 Art historians, feminist activists, and commentators argue that its abstract, sexualized form undermines Wollstonecraft’s intellectual legacy. For them, the statue replaces the pioneering thinker with a generic female figure shaped by the male gaze. They publish essays and hold debates calling for interpretative panels or alternative artworks that foreground Wollstonecraft’s ideas rather than her body. ➡️ The controversy remains unresolved, but proposals emerge to create an educational space around the monument — with panels, workshops, and public events — so that the statue becomes not just an artwork, but a catalyst for reflection on feminism, representation, and historical memory

5. Statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, located outside Paris’ National Assembly - "A Windy Afternoon on the Quai d’Orsay”

On a windy late afternoon on the Quai d’Orsay in Paris, the bronze statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert becomes the center of a heated debate.

🔴 Aïcha, a 30-year-old Martinican historian, protests the statue, seeing it as a symbol of oppression. Colbert’s Code Noir, she argues, legalized slavery and dehumanized millions, and public space should honor those who fought for freedom. She calls for the statue’s relocation to a museum, where its history can be critically explained. 🟢 Philippe, a 64-year-old modern history professor, defends the statue as a recognition of Colbert’s historical significance. While acknowledging the Code Noir, he proposes adding a plaque to show both the achievements and the dark legacy, emphasizing that statues can educate rather than erase. ➡️ They leave without agreement, yet the debate highlights a deeper truth: discussing Colbert is as much about contemporary France grappling with its colonial past as it is about the history of the 17th century.

6. Statue of Antonio Vieira in Lisbon - “Under the Sun at Largo Trindade Coelho”

On a sunny late morning at Largo Trindade Coelho in Lisbon, the bronze statue of Father António Vieira becomes the focus of a heated discussion. 🔴 Joana, a 25-year-old activist with Amazonian roots, protests the monument, seeing it as a symbol of forced evangelization and colonial oppression. The image of Indigenous children kneeling, she argues, conveys submission and cultural superiority, and the statue should be moved or recontextualized to stop glorifying a painful history. 🟢 Miguel, a 58-year-old historian, defends the statue as a representation of Vieira’s complex legacy. While acknowledging his contradictions, he emphasizes Vieira’s efforts to protect Indigenous rights and proposes using the statue as a starting point for education, supplemented with interpretative materials. ➡️ They leave without agreement, but the debate underscores a larger issue: how Portugal narrates its colonial history and educates future generations.

7. Statue of Edward Colston in Bristol - “Under the Grey Sky of Bristol”

On a grey late afternoon in Bristol, the sky heavy with clouds, the bronze statue of Edward Colston looms near Colston Avenue. The square hums with tension, as residents, activists, and onlookers gather under the watchful eyes of the police. 🔴 Aisha, 29, a local history teacher, grips a sign reading “No glory for slavery.” Each glance at the statue fills her with frustration and sorrow. To her, Colston’s wealth, built on the suffering of tens of thousands of enslaved Africans, cannot be washed away by his charitable donations. She sees the monument not as history but as celebration, and each passerby, she thinks, sees the same painful symbol. 🟢 Thomas, 63, a volunteer historian, stands nearby clutching an old city history book. To him, Colston is part of Bristol’s complex story: a man who both profited from slavery and funded schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. He believes the statue can serve as a teaching moment, provided it includes panels explaining the full context of Colston’s life, light and shadow alike. ➡️ They part ways without resolution, but the afternoon leaves a shared understanding: the debate over Colston is not just about a statue, but about how Bristol remembers its past — the achievements, the suffering, and the shadows that still linger under the grey sky.

8. Statue of Stalin in Budapest - “The Night of the Statue”

On a crisp late October night in 1956, Városliget in Budapest is tense under the shadow of the towering bronze statue of Joseph Stalin. The city is in the grip of revolution, and the statue, erected in 1951, looms as a symbol of Soviet oppression. 🔴 István, a 25-year-old factory worker, stands among the protesters with ropes and cutting torches. For him, the statue is not just bronze—it embodies the fear, disappearances, and oppression his family endured. He sees tearing it down as the first step toward freedom, a defiant act to reclaim dignity and make the world witness their refusal to kneel. 🟢 Katalin, 52, a history teacher and longtime communist party member, watches from the sidelines. She recognizes Stalin’s crimes but views the statue as a testament to the fight against fascism and a reminder of those who died. She urges caution, fearing that destroying it could erase lessons of the past and invite chaos. Her hope is to preserve history in a museum where its full story can be told. ➡️ As ropes tighten and the bronze figure groans, the statue crashes to the ground, leaving only the boots behind—a surreal reminder of oppression toppled. The act is both defiant and symbolic: the fall of the statue signals the city’s first steps toward freedom, yet the memory of the past remains, haunting the empty space.\

9. Statue of Jimmy Savile in Scotland - “The Fall of a Public Figure”

On a chilly evening in 2012, the small square in Glencoe, Scotland, is tense as council workers prepare to dismantle the bronze statue of Jimmy Savile. Once celebrated for charity work, his legacy collapsed under revelations of extensive sexual abuse, turning the statue into a symbol of outrage and pain. 🔴 Alistair, a 40-year-old local father and survivor of childhood abuse, sees the statue as an affront. Each time he passes it, he feels the weight of the harm Savile caused and believes the monument signals to survivors that their suffering does not matter. He wants it removed entirely, not relocated or recontextualized, to reclaim power and denounce the abuse. 🟢 Margaret, 68, a retired nurse who once worked with Savile on fundraising events, urges a more measured approach. She acknowledges the horror but sees the statue as a reminder of the contradictions in human behavior—the ways someone could do both good and terrible things. She advocates for moving it to a museum with interpretive panels to tell the full story. ➡️ As the workers lift the statue onto a truck, the square feels strangely empty, yet the weight of history lingers. The removal signals both the town’s reckoning with abuse and the enduring debate over how public memory should confront moral complexity.

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🗿 User Story Example: Statue of Indro Montanelli

Statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan - “Saturday Afternoon in Piazza della Repubblica” It is a bright spring Saturday in Milan. In Piazza della Repubblica, the bronze statue of Indro Montanelli, inaugurated in 2006, still stands. A police cordon surrounds it, keeping two groups of demonstrators at a careful distance: on one side, those calling for its removal; on the other, those defending its presence.

🔴 Marta, 27, a contemporary history student, grips a sign reading, “No celebration for those who justified colonialism.” For her, the statue is a painful symbol in a public space. It recalls Montanelli’s statements on colonialism and his marriage to a twelve-year-old Eritrean girl during the war in Ethiopia. She feels that leaving the statue without context is a way of honoring him while erasing the victims’ perspective and normalizing values no longer acceptable. Marta hopes it will be removed and replaced with a work celebrating figures who promoted rights and equality. As she gazes at the statue, she thinks: “This isn’t about censorship. It’s about who we want as a role model today.”

🟢 Across the cordon, Lorenzo, 72, a retired war correspondent, holds a small bouquet of flowers. For him, Montanelli was a master of journalism. He acknowledges the dark parts of his biography but believes they must be understood in their historical context and in the complexity of the man. To remove the statue, he argues, would be to rewrite history and lose a piece of the city’s memory. Lorenzo hopes instead to enrich the site with a plaque that tells both the journalistic achievements and the controversies. As he approaches, he thinks: “We aren’t better if we erase the past; we must confront it, not remove it.”

The two groups watch each other warily, divided by barriers. Marta and Lorenzo cross paths briefly as the police allow demonstrators to move in small groups. — Marta: “I understand the value Montanelli had for you, but this statue hurts many.” — Lorenzo: “And I understand the pain. But I believe the solution is to explain, not tear it down.”

➡️ Neither changes their mind. Yet, as they part ways, both carry a quiet awareness: behind every monument lies a debate that speaks more about the present than the past.