The Mauritshuis bears the name of Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604–1679), who commissioned its construction and was its first occupant. In early 2018, the Mauritshuis faced an intense but brief controversy following its earlier removal of Johan Maurits’ bust from its foyer. Opponents such as Piet Emmer and centre-right to… Read More
Construction works in Rio de Janeiro’s Port Region to prepare for the 2014 World Cup, and 2016 Olympics led to the rediscovery of one of the most significant landing points in the Americas for an estimated one million enslaved people between 1811 and 1831. In February 2011, Valongo Wharf was… Read More
In 2018, artists La Vaughn Belle and Jeannette Ehlers created the ‘I Am Queen Mary’ Statue. The monument honours Mary Thomas, one of the three female leaders of the 1878 ‘Fireburn’ Rebellion, a revolt against Danish colonial rule on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. The monument was unveiled during… Read More
The Columbus Monument in Barcelona, located at the intersection of the city’s port and the main street of Las Ramblas, was built during the Columbus-mania of the 19th century and was the largest monument dedicated to the so-called discoverer of the Americas. Several social and political groups have called for… Read More
In the past decade, Harvard University has taken great strides to acknowledge the legacy of slavery on campus. Slavery provided an impetus for the creation of resources at Harvard, and several enslaved Black and Indigenous individuals of former university presidents even resided on campus at specific points. Centuries later, Harvard… Read More
Hiding in plain sight in Lagos’ central square lies the Antigo Mercado de Escravos, the Old Slave Market, which hosts a unique museum. The building is situated in the square–formerly a beach–where enslaved people would once have been bought and sold, along with other goods such as ivory and Malagueta… Read More
Jan van Riebeeck arrived at Cape of Good Hope in 1652. His mission was to create a station for the Dutch East India Company’s ships. This meant colonising the lands inhabited by the Khoikhoi. To keep them from accessing his land, van Riebeeck planted a wild almond hedge. The hedge… Read More
José Miguel Gómez was a celebrated military general who led Cuban forces during the wars of independence against Spain in the 19th century and served as Cuba’s second president between 1909 and 1913. The monument was first inaugurated in 1936. The statue has consistently been a source of contention. It… Read More
In 1902 as requested in his last will and testament, British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes was buried atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe’s world-famous Matobo National Park. Almost 120 years later, the site of his grave has become increasingly contested in light of his intimate involvement with colonisation and exploitation. Read More
Nicknamed the ‘Slaughterer of Banda,’ the figure of Jan Pieterszoon Coen has become increasingly contested in recent years. The statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen in Hoorn has been a disputed monument since its unveiling in 1893. The statue has been smeared with red paint and graffiti numerous times in the… Read More
In 2015, a citizen advisory committee including several Indigenous activists proposed that ‘Lake Calhoun’—christened for John C. Calhoun, antebellum politician, slavery advocate, and proponent of the Indian Removal Act—be restored to its original Dakota place name, ‘Bde Maka Ska’, meaning ‘White Earth Lake’. What followed was a contentious legal battle… Read More
The statue of Sebastian de Belalcazar, erected in 1940 in Popayan, Colombia, was torn down in September 2020 during a wave of protests. Local indigenous communities had long considered the statue as the embodiment of the city’s colonial past, and a symbol of the continued impact on their lived experience. Read More