It's important to understand the nuance in the history of monuments and explore the good and bad misrepresentations

We will learn and discuss how some monuments have wrongly memorialized history.

We will propose iterations of monuments and historical landmarks that exist in our community.

WHAT WE ARE MAKING

WHY WE ARE MAKING IT

Examples of monuments that have changed around the world

Aschrott Fountain, Horst Hoheisel

Kassel, Germany

A fountain given as a give to the city of Kassel by a Jewish man was demolished by Nazis on April 9, 1939. About 30 years later researchers asked the townspeople what happened to the fountain and they could not remember the tragic truth. To help the residents of Kassel to better remember this tragic and brutal event, artist Horst Hoheisel created a "negative form" monument. He recreated the original fountain but upsidedown to represent the absence of the majestic fountain.

A statue of former Belgian King Leopold II in Antwerp that was set on fire has been removed to be restored and put in a museum in the city.

The removal of the statue comes amid a wave of support for the removal of all monuments built to honour the former king, who brutalised Congolese people during the years he exploited the territory for his personal gain.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/115940/burned-leopold-ii-statue-moves-to-antwerp-museum

Leopold II, Belgian King

Antwerp, Belgium

When Edward Colston’s statue was toppled, colonialism and national memory became a part of the Black Lives Matter conversation. A series of black Bristolians clambered on his empty plinth and spoke from the heart about racism and the struggle for equality in the city and beyond.

“This city needs to change,” declared Bristol rapper Wish Master, to a glinting wall of cameraphones held aloft by hundreds of black and white hands. “Ask any black person here today and they will tell you about racism.”

Within days, the statue of another slave trader, Robert Milligan, who owned 526 slaves in Jamaica, was removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands. Liverpool University agreed to rename a student hall of residence named after former prime minister William Gladstone, who opposed abolition in the 1830s (but later called slavery “the foulest crime”). Meanwhile, thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters, backed by Oxford city council, called for the removal of a memorial in Oriel College to British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, who supported apartheid-style measures in southern Africa.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/14/the-day-bristol-dumped-its-hated-slave-trader-in-the-docks-and-a-nation-began-to-search-its-soul

Edward Colston, Belgian King

Bristol, England

In Richmond, Va., Robert E. Lee got a new look.

On June 8, an image of George Floyd, whose death in police custody in Minneapolis helped set off the protests against police violence, was projected on the base of the statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, which towers over the city’s Monument Avenue. Days later, a pride flag was projected onto the statue.

Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, a Democrat, has ordered the removal of the statue under a new state law that goes into effect on July 1, which will allow cities to decide for themselves the fates of such monuments. (A judge later blocked the removal.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/us/confederate-statues-photos.html

Robert E. Lee

Richmond, VA, USA

Why Monuments Must Change: A study from Monument Lab

"...we found that of the 50 individuals represented most frequently by monuments in the U.S., 88 percent were white men considered wealthy by today’s standards, and half enslaved other people. There were only 3 women among these 50 individuals, a list topped by Joan of Arc.

We also found that only one percent of Civil War monuments mentioned the word “slavery,” while only three percent of Confederate monuments included the word “defeat.”"

https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/q-and-a-why-monuments-must-change

For the past few years, Monument Lab has worked with fellows around the world to bring conversations about power and public space to new communities

DISCUSS

What are the histories of the monuments and historical landmarks in your town or community?

Has a monument in your town changed?

ACTIVITY

Choose a monument from your town you would like to change

Sketch your intervention

Model your new monument using paper, tape, and scissors