Combined experiences of two visits to this one artwork certainly expanded my awareness of the powers of temporary art! Here are a few photos with links and quotes that suggest the creative time, energy, and effort given to art that was built to be completely destroyed. Though no one could revisit the art in person after Sept 12, the stories, data, videos, and other visuals continue to document the project, among other impressive time-based artworks by Adela Goldbard.

“Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 was a time-based artwork in the form of a quarter-scale replica of a 17th-century sailing ship used by European colonists landing in the Americas. The 32’ long x 6’ 7” wide x 24’ 9” tall replica galleon was constructed in Mexico using invasive reeds, phragmites, gathered from New England and Mexico in the spring of 2025 and woven by Uros artisans from Lake Titicaca in Peru.” (quote from Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 )

“After 9 days on view at City Hall Plaza, the exhibit culminated in a three-part performance on September 12 at 7:00 pm — a fictionalized “first encounter” between Indigenous people and European colonists..” (quote from Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 )

“ Accompanied by live Brazilian drumming, it transitioned from a somber battle into a festive traditional Mexican Castillo pyrotechnic display and the theatrical destruction of the ship.” (quote from Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 )

“The performance acted as a counterpoint to the colonial violence rooted in Massachusetts, where Native American communities—including the Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc peoples—faced displacement, war, and attempted erasure. Through shared ritual and spectacle, it honored their resistance and resilience, and offered a communal act of healing and remembrance. ” (quote from Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 )

“Adela Goldbard is an interdisciplinary artist-scholar and educator from Mexico……….. She is especially interested in how collectively building, staging, and destroying has the potential to generate critical thinking and social transformation. Goldbard’s investigation focuses on developing a poetics of violence and a decolonial methodology for participant artistic practice.” ( quote from Adela Goldbard website bio)

““Destruction through fire is not any kind of destruction,” Goldbard said. “it’s a way of preserving and memory-making that can be more meaningful than an actual monument.”” (quote from Boston Globe article by Cate McQuaid )

KEY RESOURCES: helpful info and context, great videos and photos

Adela Goldbard’s project for Triennial 2025 : https://www.thetriennial.org/adela-goldbard

Adela Goldbard website:https://adelagoldbard.com/

The Boston Public Art Triennial: https://www.thetriennial.org/

Triennial 2025: The Exchange: https://www.thetriennial.org/artists-projects

“A colonial ship made of invasive reeds is burned at City Hall, as art and protest” by Cate McQuaid Boston Globe, September 13, 2025: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/13/arts/adela-goldbard-fire-ship-city-hall/