News / Black Lives Matter
Rees: ‘Fair and inclusive process needed to decide future of plinth’
Bristol’s mayor has reiterated the need for a fair and inclusive process for the city to decide the future of the empty Colston plinth.
A sculpture of Black Lives Matter protestor Jen Reid, created by Marc Quinn, was in place for just 24 hours before it was taken down by the council.
Speaking the week after the temporary installation was removed, Marvin Rees said the empty plinth represents a powerful symbol about where the country is at the moment, saying “we are looking for answers, they are not easily obtainable, and no one has them all.”
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At a press briefing on Wednesday, the mayor admitted he has seen a surge in criticism and abuse aimed at him from both sides of the argument since Colston’s statue was toppled and the subsequent installation and removal of Quinn’s piece.
“I have had stuff that has been derogatory about my own colour and racial background and people who look like me,” said Rees.
“I have also had stuff sent to me suggesting I was not really black and I was a traitor to the race in the way I dealt with it.”
The mayor also revealed the £560 cost of taking down Quinn’s piece, A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, which the artist has indicated he will cover. He added that this amount doesn’t include additional costs incurred, in terms of time for the council and police, and cancelled meetings.
“We have got to be a city where people know there has been a fair and just and inclusive process for the city to make that decision,” said Rees. “That is one way in which we can create a city where we can disagree well.”
He spoke of the number of black artists who expressed their discomfort at Quinn’s actions and stressed the importance of understanding the city’s full history in order to shape the future, which is work currently being undertaken by the newly-established history commission.
In a statement, reported by PA, Quinn said he respects the council’s decision to remove his statue and indicated he would be happy to incur the cost of this.
The proceeds from any sale of the sculpture will be split between two charities chosen by Jen Reid: Cargo Classroom, a new syllabus created in Bristol to be rolled out across schools, and The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise to address the lack of Black British history in the UK curriculum.
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Read more: The Bristol project changing the narrative of black history in Britain
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Quinn has said he will offer a maquette of the sculpture to Bristol Museum, something Rees has said the city would be happy to accept.
No decision has yet been made on how the future of the plinth will be decided. Deputy mayor Asher Craig is currently working on a “deliberative democracy” process, which could potentially involve a citizens’ assembly.
The mayor added: “The real business of racism is not about those symbols, it is about housing inequalities.
“Housing, educational outcomes, child hunger, access to employment, all these measures that tackle those underlying drivers of class, race and equality in Bristol, I hang my hat on.”
Main photo by Martin Booth
Read more: Black Lives Matter sculpture removed from Colston’s plinth
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