A statue of a Black Lives Matter protester has appeared in Bristol on the empty plinth that had previously been occupied by the statue of Edward Colston, a known slave trader
A figure of protester Jen Reid was erected in Bristol city centre early on Wednesday, where the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down by protesters and thrown into the harbour last month.
Jen Reid had been photographed standing on the empty plinth after the statue of Colston was toppled from it during the march for racial equality.
This news comes after the city’s mayor has said that a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was “an affront” after it was torn down during a protest against racism in Bristol.
Artist Marc Quinn said that he did not have formal consent from Reid before beginning to create the sculpture, but he contacted Ms Reid through social media shortly after and they worked together on the statue of her, which was then erected shortly before 04:30 BST.
Mr Quinn said that he was inspired to create the statue after seeing an image of Ms Reid on top of the plinth with her fist raised during the Black Lives Matter protest on the 7th of June.
“I think it’s something the people of Bristol really appreciate seeing,” said Ms Reid.
“My husband took the photo on the day of the protests and put it on his social media. He was contacted by Marc Quinn who then contacted myself.”
“I was in his studio by the Friday after the protest with 201 cameras surrounding me, taking pictures of me from every conceivable angle. That went into a 3D print and a mould was made.”
Jen Reid said that the sculpture was an important piece of art as it helped “keep the journey towards racial justice and equality moving”.
At last month’s protest, Ms Reid said that she had felt an “overwhelming impulse” to climb on the plinth.
“When I was stood there on the plinth, and raised my arm in a Black Power salute, it was totally spontaneous,” she said.
“I didn’t even think about it. It was like an electrical charge of power was running through me.”
“This sculpture is about making a stand for my mother, for my daughter, for black people like me.”
Mr Hancock made these comments as he was setting out the government’s plan to make the wearing of face coverings compulsory in shops and supermarkets in England from the 24th of July.
Marc Quinn said that his sculpture was meant as a temporary installation, with the purpose of continuing a conversation about racism in the UK and he went on to say that he did not know whether it would remain on the plinth.
“It could be there for a month, it could be there for a year, but it’s not what’s going to be there forever, I wouldn’t have thought,” he said.
“I saw pictures of Jen on the plinth and she spontaneously made this gesture and I thought this is amazing. She’s made an extraordinary artwork just by doing that and it needs to be crystalised into an object and put back onto the plinth.”
“It had to be in that public realm and I wanted to put it in that charged spot where Edward Colston had been before.”
