The famous demolition of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, which took place in Bristol, amid anti-racism protests that swept the world in June last year, will now be part of an exhibition at the museum English M Shed. The announcement was made by Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees in a statement released this Friday (28).
The statue, which was thrown into the River Avon by protesters after being forcibly removed from its pedestal, had already been recovered by local authorities and was restored last year, preventing deterioration of water and water. silt in which it was exposed.
Colston lived in the 17th century and was known as a slave trader, in addition to being a member of the British Parliament. His monument in Bristol was demolished at a time when several sculptures criticized by black activists were being looted across the world.
Symbolic of the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020, the drug trafficker monument will be the main artefact of a temporary exhibition at M Shed, Bristol, which opened on June 4.
Entrance to the museum is free, but must be reserved in advance, on the website, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The exhibition, which brings together posters and a chronology of events from the time, will also be available in an online version.
In addition, an investigation – for public consultation – will be launched to decide the fate of the monument. The study is organized by the History Commission of the We Are Bristol Museum.
“The future of the statue must be decided by the people of Bristol and therefore I ask everyone to take the opportunity to share their opinions and help in future decisions,” the mayor said in a statement. .
Marvin Rees also defined June 7 – the date the statue was thrown into the river – as “an important day in Bristol’s history” and with a strong global impact.
Tim Cole, president of the Commission and professor of history at the university, points out that the exhibition will not be a global action on Colston, nor on the transatlantic slave trade, but intends to be a starting point for new measures linked to access to the history of the period.
Since July, the pedestal that housed Colston’s statue has supported a monument to activist Jen Reid.