Bristol City Council leaders to debate future of Colston statue
Cabinet will discuss the statue's future next week, after a survey found 80 per cent of people want it on permanent display in a museum
Recommendations on what should happen to the statue of slave trader Edward Colston will be debated by Bristol City Council's Cabinet next week (Tuesday 5 April).
It comes after a report was published last month on the city's views, which detailed how 80 per cent of people feel it should go on permanent display in a museum.
The statue was torn down by Black Lives Matter protestors on 7 June 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in the United States, with many incensed that a statue existed in the city centre calling a man, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Africans during the slave trade, a "wise and virtuous son of the city".
That moment drew worldwide attention and four people charged with criminal damage over the toppling of the statue were later found not guilty by a jury at Bristol Crown Court, on the grounds the statue should not have been there in the first place.
The report mentioned above, put together by the We Are Bristol History Commission, also noted:
- A majority of people support adding a plaque in the vicinity of the plinth to reflect the events of 7 June 2020
- Nearly 6 out of 10 Bristol respondents (58 per cent) support using the plinth for temporary artworks or sculptures, and another 15 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed, suggesting a total of 7 out of 10 are open to this option (72 per cent)
- More than 5 out of 8 Bristol residents (65 per cent) said they feel either very positive( 50 per cent) or positive (15 per cent) about the statue being pulled down. Across the survey as a whole, over half (56 per cent) said they feel positive about the statue being pulled down
Bristol's Mayor Marvin Rees has repeatedly said any decision on what happens to the statue must be taken following an informed debate across the city, which the History Commission was tasked with starting.
Off the back of their survey, the Commission has formally recommended that the statue be put on permanent display in a Bristol museum.
It has already been on temporary display at the M Shed and while the Commission also recommends it should remain on display horizontally as was the case there, it has stopped short of suggesting it should stay at the M Shed specifically.
The Plinth
As much as what should happen to the statue, what should be done with its plinth, which has sat largely empty for two years since the statue was toppled, has also been a contentious topic of debate.
Shortly after the Colston bust came down, another of BLM protestor Jen Reid was placed on top of it without permission and so was quickly removed.
Rather than replacing Colston with anything permanent, the Commission has recommended it be used for temporary artworks and activities that see the space used "for dialogue and conversation about things that matter", including the legacy of transatlantic slavery.
It has also been recommended, in line with the results of the survey, that a new plaque be added to the plinth, the wording for which has already been suggested by the Commission as follows:
"On 13 November 1895, a statue of Edward Colston (1636 - 1721) was unveiled here celebrating him as a city benefactor.
"In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the celebration of Colston was increasingly challenged given his prominent role in the enslavement of African people.
"On 7 June 2020, the statue was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests and rolled into the harbour.
"Following consultation with the city in 2021, the statue entered the collections of Bristol City Council’s museums."
While these recommendations are based on extensive research, there is no guarantee that they will be adopted, either fully or partially by the City Council, after the Cabinet's debate next week.
Mayor Marvin Rees has previously told us the results of the survey will not be treated like a referendum.