Matthew Horwood/Getty ImagesBy KARMA ALLEN, ABC NEWS
(LONDON) — A statue of a controversial 17th century British slave trader stood for more than 100 years in Bristol, U.K.
Protesters toppled it last month, but the resin and steel Black Lives Matter sculpture that replaced it was removed by local authorities just a day after it was installed.
Marc Quinn had secretly placed the new effigy of Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid on Wednesday in honor of the ongoing movement against racism and police brutality in the U.K. and abroad. The new statue had been installed just five weeks after angry demonstrators took down a 125-year-old statue of Edward Colston, a primary benefactor of the British slavery trade who reportedly oversaw the kidnapping and trafficking of 84,000 West African slaves.
“This morning we removed the sculpture. It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection,” the Bristol city council tweeted Thursday.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees explained the decision in an on-camera interview with Sky News on Thursday, saying, “We aren’t taking down a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester, we’re taking down the work of an artist who erected it without permission.”
He also issued a statement Wednesday, highlighting the need for a democratic process where “the people of Bristol decide the future of the plinth” where the original statue once stood.
Quinn, one of Britain’s most well-known sculptors, said he was inspired to create the figure — entitled A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 — after seeing the now-viral photo of Reid standing with her fist raised on top of the abandoned plinth where the Colston statue once stood. Protesters tossed the statue into a nearby harbor after toppling it.
“I’d first like to thank Jen for collaborating with me on A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020 at every point in the process of making this new temporary public artwork,” Quinn said in an Instagram post Wednesday. “The sculpture’s title comes from Jen’s powerful description of her experience of standing on the plinth.”
Reid, who said she dedicates her life’s work to fighting racial injustice and inequality, said she felt empowered by the anti-racism movement in Bristol. For a moment, the city found itself as one of the focal points of the protests that erupted in countries around the world after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“It was like an electrical charge of power was running through me. My immediate thoughts were for the enslaved people who died at the hands of Colston and to give them power,” Reid said in the aftermath of the statue removal. “I wanted to give George Floyd power, I wanted to give power to Black people like me who have suffered injustices and inequality. A surge of power out to them all.”
Protesters and anti-racism advocates rallied behind the removal and subsequent replacement on social media. Authorities have recovered the Colston statue and said they’re planning to place it in a museum alongside placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees referred to the Closton statue as one of the city’s “dirty” secrets and acknowledged England’s complicated history with slavery. But he said did not condone the statue’s unauthorized removal.
“I am a part of this city and I cannot pretend that the presence of this statue to Colston — a slaver — with a plaque on it that says he was a ‘wise and virtuous son of the city’ is anything other than a personal affront to me and people like me,” Rees said in an interview with ABC News after the statue’s toppling. “And not just black and brown people, but white people too, who are horrified that the city would give a place of honor to someone who made money through the kidnap and enslavement of other human beings.”
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.