Rumours of War in Richmond, Virginia

Almost a century after the last Confederate monument was erected in the heart of Richmond, the state capital of Virginia, a new counter-monument was installed in 2019 by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Modelled after its neighbouring Confederate statues, the equestrian statue of a Black man is a rare addition that serves to re-contextualise a space rife with contested monuments. This case study explores the role counter-monuments can play in the diversification of artistic representations in public spaces.