The toppled bronze statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston has gone on display at the M Shed museum in Bristol, UK, a year after it was felled and thrown into Bristol Harbour during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Recovered by Bristol city council workers four days later, the statue was placed in storage, before undergoing months of preservation work.
It now forms part of a temporary display that has been described by the museum as “the start of a conversation”. It’s accompanied by placards from the protest and a timeline describing the events of June 7, 2020.
We are Bristol commision
Colston has long been a figure of controversy for the city of Bristol, with calls to remove the statue dating back to the 1990s due to his involvement in the slave trade.
The statue’s long-term future will be decided by a public consultation led by the We Are Bristol (WAB) commission.
Professor Tim Cole, chair of the WAB commission said: “The display is not a comprehensive exhibition about Colston or transatlantic slavery in Bristol, but it is intended to be a departure point for continuing conversations about our shared history.”
Dr Shawn Sobers, an associate professor at the University of the West of England and part of the commission, told PA Media: “We’re using this opportunity to find out what local people think because we have to live in this city together.
“We know this isn’t an isolated incident, we know that there are statues across the world that celebrate slavers.
“The anti-racist movement isn’t about statues. It’s trying to eradicate racism from society and bring equality where there’s racial disparity which cuts across economic divides. But statues are a symbol of how seriously our cities in Britain are taking these issues.”
Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees said: “The future of the statue must be decided by the people of Bristol.”
The statue was toppled in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests CREDIT: PA MEDIA
