Inaugurated on May 10, 2015, the Memorial ACTe marked the realisation of a vision to deliver a world-leading centre for the memory of slavery in Guadeloupe. However, contested political ‘ownership’ plagued the project from the start and financial mismanagement has also jeopardised the MACTe, culminating in the dismissal of… Read More
On September 5, 2017, a 126-year-old statue of Senegaal (Senegal) governor, Louis Faidherbe, collapsed after heavy rain and winds. The accident sparked a protest among activists and religious communities across Senegal. Minimising the extent of the protest, local authorities restored the statue within a few days, resulting in even… Read More
The first Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedmen’s Memorial, was erected in Washington, D.C., in 1876. Funded by formerly enslaved persons, the statue celebrates President Abraham Lincoln. During the American Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, offering limited freedom to enslaved people. Shortly after the creation of… Read More
The Voortrekker monument is a large granite building which represents Dutch settler nationalism in South Africa. It was built as an attempt to construct a narrative of Afrikaner nationalist pride, tying it in with a complicated legacy of colonialism and racial prejudice. It has thus been subject to criticism… Read More
The Monument to the Flags is a monument in São Paulo, Brazil, that commemorates the Bandeirantes Paulistas. A group of colonists explored the territory of the Portuguese colony as Brazil expanded its limits. The Monument, designed by Victor Brecheret, is one of the most significant statues in the state. Read More
In February 1913, the killing of three settlers by Aboriginal people in 1864 was commemorated with the unveiling of the Explorers’ Monument. Yet the history remembered by the memorial was just one side of the story – its plaque failed to mention the deaths of almost 40 Aboriginal people… Read More
On February 6, 2020, a historical plaque marking the site of a slave auction went missing in Charlottesville, Virginia. For some residents, the removal of the plaque revived complaints about the inadequacy of the memorial; others felt the removal erased Black history. Five days later, police arrested a local… Read More
In 2015, the student organisation Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford began to place sustained pressureon All Souls College to confront the legacy of their ‘Codrington Library’ – named for the enslaverand benefactor Christopher Codrington. Across two ‘waves’ of targeted protest in 2015-16 and2020, the College made a range of… Read More
In September 2021, the Modeste Testas statue in Bordeaux, which commemorates the city’s involvement in the slave trade, was covered in white plaster. Initially, the City Council believed there were racist motives behind the move, so they issued a legal complaint and started an investigation. However, it was established… Read More
The legacy of Edward Colston, a Bristol-born merchant and Royal African Company executive, involves a complex history relating to local politics, educational institutions, and organisations in Bristol. For many years, the Society of Merchant Venturers, which held significant influence over local heritage policy-making, curated and protected the Colston legacy. Read More
A copy of Bright Bimpong’s Freedom statue was gifted to Denmark by individuals from the Virgin Islands in 2017, to mark the 100th anniversary of Denmark selling the islands to the United States. In 2019, the statue was finally placed in front of Eigtveds Pakhus, a colonial-era warehouse, which… Read More