Enlarge image
Statue of the slave owner Edward Colston (detail): The protests left traces of paint
Photo: Ben Birchall / picture alliance / empics
Around a year after the slaveholder statue was overthrown in Bristol, the public can view the remains of the statue.
"It's not an exhibition, we're not trying to answer all of the questions," said the scientist involved, Shawn Sobers of the University of the West of England, of the British news agency PA.
"We take the opportunity to find out what the local people think."
The damaged and sprayed statue of the slave trader Edward Colston (1636-1721) has been on display in the M Shed Museum in Bristol since Friday - alongside protest posters and information about the incidents in June 2020. Since it fell into the dock at the Black Lives Matter «Protests in the past year, she can no longer stand upright.
The violent demolition had sparked a debate last year about how Britain should deal with its past as a colonial power.
As part of the campaign, visitors are asked how they would like to deal with the fallen statue in the future.
Suggested options include: removing the statue entirely from the public eye, re-erecting it, or opening a museum dedicated to the history of the international slave trade.
"We know that this is not an isolated incident, we know that there are statues all over the world that celebrate slave traders," said Sobers.
The Bristol action is an opportunity to address the bigger story and encourage people to talk about it.
During a demonstration in June 2020, people pulled a noose around the statue of Edward Colston and brought it down.
They had sunk the bronze statue in the harbor amid screams of jubilation.
Born into a merchant family in the 17th century, Colston worked for the Royal African Society, which enslaved around 80,000 people in total.
Colston later earned a reputation as a philanthropist through donations to schools and hospitals.
ime / dpa