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A vote will take place on February 21 to decide whether or not a toppled statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston will go on display in Bristol's M Shed museum
Lauren Heath-Jones | 19 Feb 2024
The statue has been displayed on its side since its toppling in 2020
Plans to formally relocate the toppled statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston to the M Shed museum in Bristol, UK, are to be considered by a committee.
The statue, which dates back to 1895, was felled and pushed into Bristol Harbour during the UK’s Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd in the US in 2020.
After Bristol City Council retrieved the monument from the harbour, it was transferred to M Shed, where it formed part of a temporary display. It has been stored at the museum ever since.
A 2022 We Are Bristol History Commission report set out several recommendations for the statue’s future, including its permanent relocation to a local museum.
In order to secure its future at the museum, an application to legally separate the statue from its plinth must be submitted to Bristol City Council’s Development Control Committee. The Committee is expected to vote on applying for the delisting of the statue on 21 February.
If approved, the statue will go on display at M Shed as part of an upcoming exhibition exploring protest, which will open at the museum in March 2024.
Museums and galleries
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