“Robust Mermaid” Leaves Costera for Repairs

(Acapulco, AN 11 November) The modern sculpture of the portly “Sirena Costeña,” nicknamed the “Robust Mermaid” by critics, has been taken down from her perch in the traffic circle on the Costera Alemán at the connecting point with the “Vía Rápida.” The statue had been the target of vandalism, but yesterday her head and arms were removed entirely. City employees have taken the statue to a workshop for repairs and refurbishment. When first unveiled in 2008, the fiberglass statue by artist Samuel Muñuzuri caused a polemic because the modern design depicted this mythological ideal of womanhood as overweight and ungainly. Since then, she has become something of a tourist attraction. Nevertheless, some lawless art critics chose to express their opinion by defacing and dismembering her. City officials have asked the public not to be alarmed by her disappearance, and that soon she will resume her post in the median of the city’s main thoroughfare.