The Reunion

I was very struck by this extraordinary piece for the way it furthers the narrative of Colston’s toppling as he must come face-to-face with his crimes. I think moving forward such a thing needs to be applied to other slaver statues. While I understand the urge to destroy them or place them in museums, in the long term this maybe a bad thing. These evil men when celebrated were made visible publicly, why should their shame be different? While I support the National Slavery Memorial, I wonder that it may erase an important question of the slave trade- why it happened. The why is clear when you see men like Colston in their fancy wears- it was for financial enrichment. My idea of how to capture the why of and cost of slavery would be to have a monument that brings the beneficiaries and victims of slavery together face-to-face like you’ve done here, perhaps in a way where the moral superiority of the victims is made clear by having them encircle the slavers or have them looking down on them in a heap on the floor. Happy to chat further if you want to contact me!