Statue of protester that replaced one of slave trader removed

Just over 24 hours after artist Marc Quinn installed a cast-iron statue of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protester Jen Reid where slave trader Edward Colston once stood, Bristol City Council has removed the work.

The city's mayor, Marvin Rees, said it is up to the people of Bristol to decide what will replace Colston on the pedestal. He told the BBC a process of discussion had begun, and added that Quinn could collect his artwork from the council. Rees said he would "welcome" a donation from the artist towards the cost of the removal work.

City workers removed the statue shortly after dawn. /AP/video

Quinn molded the likeness of Jen Reid, a protester who was photographed standing on the plinth where Colston's statue stood before demonstrators pulled it down and dumped it in the harbor on 7 June.

The incident took place during anti-racism protests, which were happening in the UK and around the world to condemn the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in the U.S. in May.

Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes as he was pinned to the floor. Global protests were ignited as Black Lives Matter demonstrators took to the streets to voice their anger against racism and police brutality.

The movement also brought into focus the issue of statues that appear across Europe, of historical figures tied to the slave trade, colonialism or violence against black people. Statues in several European countries were defaced or removed during the protests.

Tempers ran high once the new statue was unveiled. /Geoff Caddick/AFP

Quinn said he understood why protesters took down the figure of Colston, saying it was the "statue of a slaver that's been there as a kind of insult in bronze for hundreds of years."

He was inspired to make the new sculpture after seeing a photograph of Reid on the empty plinth during the protests. He said Reid had "created the sculpture when she stood on the plinth and raised her arm in the air. Now we're crystallizing it."

The statue, titled

A Surge of Power (Jen Reid)

was erected without approval from city officials.

Reid hoped the statue would remain standing, to keep the conversations about race going. "I'd like the council to keep it here, because of obviously what it represents and who was there prior," Reid said. "I think the most important thing is that something is up there replacing Edward Colston. And for people to discuss, educate, learn and just keep talking about, you know, BLM," she added.

The council said if Quinn does not collect the statue, it will become part of its collection, perhaps to be placed elsewhere in the town.

02:07

Additional reporting from Arij Limam