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All the United Kingdom England Bristol Empty Plinth of the Colston Statue
AO Edited

Empty Plinth of the Colston Statue

After protestors toppled a statue of a 17th-century slave trader, the pedestal where it once stood remains unoccupied.

Bristol, England

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Will
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The empty plinth where Colston’s statue once stood.   Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
The empty plinth, the damage to the plinth on the upper right of the photo was caused by the statue falling   willfaulkner / Atlas Obscura User
Close up of the damage and plaque, with ‘erected’ now graffiti’d to show: ‘rejected’   willfaulkner / Atlas Obscura User
The empty pedestal surrounded by posters in 2020   Caitlin Hobbs / CC BY 3.0
The statue before it was toppled, circa 2006   William Avery, CC BY-SA 3.0
The fallen statue on display at the M Shed   Adrian Boliston, CC BY 2.0
The spot where the statue was thrown into Bristol Harbour   willfaulkner / Atlas Obscura User
Empty Plinth   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Statue of Edward Colston   Phillip Halling
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The year 2020 was historic, not just for the coronavirus pandemic taking a hold of the world, but also because of the Black Lives Matter protests. The protests were heard around the globe, and in the U.K., they were especially memorable in the city of Bristol. In 1895, a statue was erected in the city to commemorate the Bristol-born sea merchant and slave trader Edward Colston.

Since the 1990s, many locals and organizations had been campaigning to get the statue either removed or adjusted to reflect Colston's history as an enslaver. These proposals were declined or simply ignored. But in 2020, people who objected to the statue's presence in Bristol took matters into their own hands.

On June 7, 2020, a group of some 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Bristol for a rally. When they reached the site of Colston's statue, protestors threw a rope over the bronze figure and pulled it to the ground. The statue was pushed down to Narrow Quay, where it was then heaved into the harbor.

The protests in Bristol made headlines across the U.K. and in international news. Police protection was put in place around other controversial statues, should protestors be inspired to rip from their stands too. After the event, Bristol police claimed they had made a "tactical decision" to allow the statue's toppling, fearing if they had intervened, it would spark further uproar.

A commission set up to analyze what to do with the statue and plinth conducted interviews with over 13,000 people. The report they published stated that "a majority of respondents felt positive about the statue being pulled down." The statue was quickly and quietly fished out of the river by the council as it was a navigation hazard. It was transferred to M Shed, where it has been put on display in its toppled, graffiti-covered state.

A small group of protestors faced criminal charges for pulling down the statue. Known as the Colson Four, they were put on trial for criminal damages in 2021 and found not guilty in 2022.

The empty plinth remains—standing on a street that still bears Colston's name—and its future is uncertain. Many in Bristol and elsewhere believe the plinth should remain empty with a plaque explaining the events leading up to and including June 7, 2020. Others believe it should be used (and has been used) for temporary art displays. 

Related Tags

Statues Slavery Racism Protest

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willfaulkner

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SEANETTA, Xavixavir, Michelle Cassidy

  • SEANETTA
  • Xavixavir
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

December 21, 2022

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Sources
  • https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/edward-colstons-empty-plinth-bristol-6877663
  • https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/
  • https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/edward-colston-statue-m-shed-museum-bristol-1234595170/
  • https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/05/four-cleared-of-toppling-edward-colston-statute
  • https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/europe/edward-colston-statue-bristol/index.html
  • https://www.npr.org/2020/09/15/913353564/the-protests-heard-round-the-world
Empty Plinth of the Colston Statue
1945 Colston Ave
Bristol, England, BS1 4UA
United Kingdom
51.454649, -2.596707
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