News / Edward Colston
When Colston statue is expected to go back on display in Bristol
The statue of notorious slave trader Edward Colston is set to go on display in March pending a vote to formalise the move.
Bristol City Council is seeking planning permission from itself to officially relocate the statue to M Shed some three and a half years after it was unceremoniously toppled from its plinth during a Black Lives Matter protest.
The statue was put on temporary display at the museum on Princes Wharf in 2021 as part of an exhibition named ‘The Colston Statue: What next?’ and has since been removed from view while its long-term future was decided.
is needed now More than ever
The council now needs to seek retrospective listed building consent to permanently move the statue because both it and the plinth are Grade II-listed, with officers recommending the development control committee grant permission when it meets on February 21.
Colston’s statue was toppled during a Black Lives Matter march in June 2020 – photo: Martin Booth
The plan is to put the statue on display as part of an exhibition on protest, which opens in March, with a new plaque proposed for the plinth.
Mayor Marvin Rees said: “The proposals we have developed are in direct response to the recommendations of the History Commission report, which was itself informed by the views of many thousands of fellow Bristolians.
“We have shared our thoughts with Historic England on this matter too and have taken their views on board before submitting this application. I remain in support of the view that the best place for the statue is in a museum where its context, and that of what it represents to many communities, can be appropriately shared with diverse audiences.
“We’ve already glimpsed how eager people are to learn about this context and associated history when nearly 100,000 people visited ‘The Colston Statue: What next?’ display in 2021.”
The We Are Bristol History Commission, formed after the statue was toppled, recommended the statue should be kept in a museum in its report, something 80 per cent of people who responded to their survey supported.
Dr Shawn Sobers at the Colston statue display at the M Shed in 2021 – photo: Martin Booth
Professor Tim Cole, who chaired the commission and was one of the academics to produce the report, said: “One of our areas of work through the commission was to facilitate a city-wide conversation about what should happen next with the Edward Colston statue.
“That project saw us gather many diverse opinions and views that truly demonstrated the complexity of the feelings associated with the statue and the many strands of context associated with it.
“What was clear though, despite the many different views shared, was an overwhelming sense that people saw the museum as being the best place for the statue and I am pleased to see the council acting on this recommendation.”
Further details of the upcoming exhibition will be published in the coming weeks.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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