In November 2024, the Ministry of Culture and Sports published Agreement 1449-2024, with which a contest is created to design a monument where the remains of Miguel Ángel Asturias will rest on his possible return to Guatemala.
On Friday, May 30, the news of the Government, the news of the National Government, was announced within the Government of the winners who also reached the social networks of the institution. It was shared that The Guatemalan sculptor María Sofía Castillo Shambach was the winner of the unique and extraordinary sculpture contest Miguel Ángel Asturiaswhich seeks to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the Nobel Prize for Literature. According to the bases of the contest, the artist would have the endorsement to give life to her work and also receive a prize of Q250 thousand.
The second place was for Earth heartof the architect, multidisciplinary artist and cultural manager Cristian Cojulún. His proposal presented the profile of Asturias merged with elements of corn, such as mazorcas and leaves of Tusa, in a symbolic composition. The prize was Q125 thousand.
While the third place It was for the architect and sculptor Mauro Yojcomwith your piece Flight at dawna figurative sculpture that combines the image of a flame with pages of books, recorded with fragments of texts alluding to the author, with a prize of Q75 thousand.
The contest sought to exalt the life and work of the writer, as well as stimulate the monumental sculptural creation of Guatemalan artists. The Deputy Minister of Culture, Luis Rodrigo Carrillo, in an interview with Free press He commented that about 35 proposals participated, of which three artists who will receive a cash prize were selected.
On that occasion, Carrillo explained that the artist would give time to work and plan the date of return of the writer’s remains to the country.
The jury of the event was made up of the teacher Max Leiva, Lucrecia Méndez de Penedo, Oscar Caal, Osmín Isidro de la Maza, Sandino Asturias Valenzuela, Ana Olivia Castañeda Arroyo and Anazush of Carmen Guzmán Morales.
The contest was born after the official declaration of the commemorative year of Miguel Ángel Asturias by the Government of Guatemala in June 2024. The call was aimed at Guatemalan artists of legal age, with the aim of selecting a sculptural proposal that reflects the life and work of the writer, as well as his connection with the national identity.
The Ministry reported at the time that the finalist models were evaluated under criteria of creativity, conceptual solidity and compatibility with the space destined: the Mayan square of the “Miguel Ángel Asturias” Cultural Center, where the monument will be built.
But, this Thursday, June 19, the Ministry launched a statement where the contest declared deserted and announced that a new selection process will be held.
Why did they declare the contest of the Miguel Ángel Asturias monument desert?
The Ministry of Culture formed a verifying commission responsible for reviewing the process of qualification and failure of the unique and extraordinary sculpture contest “Miguel Ángel Asturias”, with the aim of establishing compliance with Ministerial Agreement 1449-2024 and the bases of the contest.
The document published around 2 pm, explains that based on numeral 16 of said bases, which refers to the unforeseen events that arose during the process, this commission was created to confirm that the selected works as winners met all the established requirements.
He describes that it is part of the institutional obligation to ensure the quality of public spending and transparency, since the awards come from State funds. “As a result of the verification carried out, it was determined that some of the works did not comply with the measures established in the bases. In other cases, the lack of documents in the files was evidenced. In addition, none of the participating works – selected or not by the jury – reached the minimum of 80 % of the points required to move on to the next evaluation stage,” the document quotes.
“In the review, it was established that some of the selected proposals breached the provisions of these bases. Based on the above, this portfolio decided to cancel the performance of the qualifying jury. Next week the new date of reception of works will be published to participate in the unique and extraordinary sculpture contest” Miguel Ángel Asturias “, which continues to be valid and will be governed by the same bases,” said the institution.
#Release | We inform the population:#EblodignoEsPrimero pic.twitter.com/xwl5lkvjml
– Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala (@MCdguate) June 19, 2025
Schambach shared that she was summoned to the Ministry of Culture. They asked him to enter alone and, in the place, he was a lawyer. The reasons they expressed were technical, and explained that, for a few centimeters, their sculpture did not meet the requirements. In addition, they assured that none of the participants had the stationery in order. At that time it was informed that the contest would be repeated.
By consulting Schambach about his perception of this change, he explained that he feels sad: “It is sad because this was going to be a legacy and the artist’s effort is not taken seriously for not handling the appropriate means and bringing the appropriate order … In the end all the contestants have to do and rebuild their proposals. They invited me to participate again, but that is to do it from scratch and it does not make sense, I do not think to participate again.
For his part, the artist Yojcom said that, for an emerging artist, this situation has an impact. “In the emotional sense of the artist it is a low blow, although some artists have come forward after adversities,” he said, while reflecting that, in his career, he has had to go abroad to grow professionally, not finding spaces in Guatemala.
Yojcom insisted that competitions like this should not be taken light and that the bases must be established by professionals in the arts that are qualifying. “They gave us the justification of the comptroller’s intervention, where they wanted a justification for why the winners were chosen, and at that time they reviewed that certain details had not been fulfilled,” he explained.
“The bases limited the artist to explore different options and I am aware that my model did not have the measure, but the measure of the model does not influence the final result. It would not be justification for disqualifying me … In the case of a tender, if one does not comply with a document, it is automatically out, but in this case, why did they expect to publish the awards and then reviewed?”
He also requested that the responsibility is from the institution so as not to cause damage to the image of the artist and the jury: “Because with this they are also saying that they do not agree with the selection of professionals,” he said.
In the document the date of the future contest is not yet estimated.