Statue

Statue of Lord Nelson with metal railings around it in Barbados
#11

Admiral Horatio Nelson Statue in Bridgetown

Barbados

By Contested Histories Initiative July 2021

Originally erected in 1813, the statue of British Colonial Admiral Horatio Nelson, enjoyed 206 years of undisturbed tenure in the centre of Bridgetown. However, in recent years Barbados has undergone a journey of renewing national identity and demarcating new heroes, causing Nelson to come under scrutiny. This case raises questions… Read More

Statue of Lenin extending his hand surrounded by busts of Lenin on the ground at Grūto parkas in Lithuania
#96

Grūtas Sculpture Park in Druskininkai

Lithuania

By Contested Histories Initiative July 2021

The Grūtas Park was created to collect and display Soviet-era monuments that had been removed from public spaces following Lithuanian independence. This case study provides an example of an effective and alternate remedy to destruction or erasure of contested historical legacies, but also shows the political, social, and economic complexities… Read More

Statue of Mahatma Gandhi with staff in front of University of Ghana
#72

University of Ghana Gandhi Statue in Accra

Ghana

By Contested Histories Initiative July 2021

In June 2016, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was gifted to the University of Ghana in Accra, by the Indian President. Shortly after, staff and students at the University circulated a petition calling for the statue’s removal due to Gandhi’s racist writings on Africans. In 2018, two years after the… Read More

Statue of emperor Napoleon's wife with head broken off in La Savane park on the French island of Martinique
#100

Statue of Joséphine de Beauharnais in Fort-de-France

Martinique, France

By Contested Histories Initiative July 2021

The statue of Napoleon’s first wife, first Empress of the French, lingered beheaded in Martinique, one of the remaining overseas territories of France. In July 2020 the Statue was permanently demolished. This case introduces the role of non-restoration as a memory policy to prevent and/or react to conflicts rooted in… Read More

Rhodes Must Fall

The Struggle to Decolonise the Racist Heart of Empire

By Brian Kwoba, Roseanne Chantiluke & Athinangamso Nkopo 2018

Written by key members of the movement in Oxford, Rhodes Must Fall is the story of that campaign. Showing the crucial importance of both intersectionality and solidarity with sister movements in South Africa and beyond, this book shows what it means to boldly challenge the racism rooted deeply at the… Read More