“ONCE I DIG INTO MY COLLECTIVE MEMORY, MORE SPECIFICALLY MY FAMILY’S HISTORY, THERE IS ONE SPECIFIC EVENT THAT MARKS A VERY IMPORTANT BEFORE AND AFTER. THIS FAMILIAR CONNECTION IS LINKED TO THE BIGGEST AERIAL ACCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF ECUADOR. MY FATHER’S BROTHER, NELSON, WAS ON BOARD OF THE BOEING 737-200 THAT COLLIDED WITH A MOUNTAIN SECONDS BEFORE LANDING IN CUENCA, KILLING ALL PASSENGERS ON BOARD (PRECISELY ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN PASSENGERS AND CREW MEMBERS). OUT OF THIS ACCIDENT CAME NOTHING MORE THAN THE BIRTH OF MY BROTHER, FOUR DAYS AFTER THE CRASH, ON THE 15TH OF JULY OF 1983. WITHOUT THINKING OF FUTURE CONSEQUENCES, SUCH AS THE WEIGHT OF SUCH A TRAGIC END OR THE POSSIBLE PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMAS DUE TO CARRYING SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE EXPECTATIONS AND INDIRECTLY BECOMING THE “REPLACEMENT”, MY PARENTS DECIDED TO NAME MY BROTHER AFTER OUR UNCLE NELSON. FIVE YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS LATER MY MOTHER GAVE BIRTH TO HER LAST CHILD; THAT WOULD BE ME, AND CONSEQUENTLY, THE ONLY NELSON OGLIASTRI I EVER MET WAS MY BROTHER.”
MONUMENT OF UNCLE NELSON EXPLORES THE VARIOUS MEANINGS AND FORMS OF MONUMENTS THROUGH A RIGOROUS STUDY OF A FAMILY TRAGEDY.