The We Are Bristol History Commission has found that the majority of Bristol residents think the toppled statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston should be displayed in a museum in the city.
The independent commission opened a public engagement about the future of the Colston statue and its plinth in summer 2021, with nearly 14,000 people joining to share their views.
Participants could view the statue online or in a display at the M Shed museum in Bristol. They were asked what should be in the plinth space, with the majority saying the plinth should have a new plaque that reflects the events of June 7, 2020.
“It should be in a museum. Statues are celebratory, museums are educational,” said one participant. “It’s not ‘rewriting history’ to remove a statue if it’s preserved in a museum in an appropriate context,” said another.
‘Statues are celebratory, museums are educational’
“It shouldn’t be on display,” said a third participant. “We don’t need statues to be displayed of people who killed and murdered thousands. We do not need statues to remember their crimes.”
The commission found that four out of five Bristol residents think the statue should be displayed in a museum. Seven out of ten are in favour of adding a plaque to the plinth to reflect the statue’s removal during a Black Lives Matter march.
Six out of 10 Bristol residents agree with using the plinth for temporary artworks, and five out of eight residents said they feel positive about the statue being toppled.
The commission suggests the following wording for the new plaque: “On 13 November 1895, a statue of Edward Colston (1636 – 1721) was unveiled here celebrating him as a city benefactor. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the celebration of Colston was increasingly challenged given his prominent role in the enslavement of African people.
“On 7 June 2020, the statue was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests and rolled into the harbour. Following consultation with the city in 2021, the statue entered the collections of Bristol City Council’s museums.”
Image: M Shed
