Shortlist announced for memorial honouring the victims of transatlantic slavery

• Six leading artists shortlisted to create the Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery - the first of its kind in the UK 
• New memorial will be located in West India Quay following £500,000 pledge from the Mayor  

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today [6^th June], announced a shortlist of leading artists to create the Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery.   

The new memorial will be the first of its scale and profile in the UK and will be located in West India Quay in London Docklands – an area whose history is closely linked with transatlantic slavery.

London played a key role in the organisation and funding of transatlantic slavery. However, while there are monuments commemorating abolition, and many statues and buildings reflecting the wealth and power the trade in enslaved African people created, there is little to remember the millions of African people who were enslaved and abused as a result.

The creation of the memorial has been made possible thanks to a £500,000 funding pledge by the Mayor, and is part of the work of the Mayor’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm, which focused on better representation of the breadth and diversity of the capital’s population and history. It will include a learning programme to reflect the experiences and resistance of enslaved Africans and tell the story of London’s role. It will also reflect on the impact transatlantic slavery has had on generations of Black communities.

The shortlisted artists and their proposed works are:

• Alberta Whittle – Echoes from beneath the deep and in between the canes includes a Caribbean-style pavilion alongside a sugarcane field and cowrie shells which are synonymous with the trade in enslaved people.   

• Grada Kilomba – Archaeology of Contemplation uses the image of a boat as a metaphor of remembrance, remembering those who were transported as cargo by the British and other nations.   
• Helen Cammock – Ripple is a large-scale, circular stone structure with six discoverable engraved texts in West African wood. It asks us to think about how histories resonate, reverberate and replicate - just like a ripple in water. It creates a space to reflect and learn from the generational experiences of enslaved people. 
• Hew Locke – Memorial for the victims of the transatlantic slave trade consists of bronze sculptures of boys and girls, carrying buildings which were built in London from money earned by the trade in enslaved people.
• Khaleb Brooks – The Wake uses a large scale cowrie shell to represent the perseverance, prosperity and beauty rooted in African and African diasporic heritage.  
• Zak Ové – Nana Buluku is an 11m tall and richly decorated representation of an African Queen, Nana Buluku. She is believed to be the mother of all deceased people and accompanies them during their journey to the land of the dead, preparing their souls to be born again. 

The story of transatlantic slavery is woven into London’s streets, squares and buildings, often invisible to the public. The memorial will also be accompanied by a number of satellite sites across London which will mark these stories in the fabric of the city, bringing the history and the legacy of the trade to London, and the rest of the UK, to life.   

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “A lasting memorial to the victims of transatlantic slavery is long overdue. I’m proud that this first memorial of its kind in the UK will commemorate the victims of this barbaric practice and help educate Londoners and visitors on the role London, and the UK, played in the trade in enslaved African people.    

“It is essential that London’s public spaces reflect our city’s stories, celebrate our leading figures and achievements, but also commemorate and acknowledge the parts of our history some would rather forget. This memorial will provide a better understanding of the capital’s role in the trade, and a chance to reflect and learn from this dark chapter, creating a better and fairer London for all.”   

Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, said: “London’s public spaces need to tell the full story of our capital’s history and not shy away or sugarcoat uncomfortable chapters from the past. This Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery is a long time coming and will serve as a poignant reminder of London’s role in this cruel practice, educate visitors and pay tribute to the millions of people who lost their lives.”  

Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, said: “The Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery will be a stark reminder of the pain and suffering caused by the transatlantic slave trade. The shortlisted works all honour the loss of life and will act as a point of reflection and education for Londoners, visitors to the capital and future generations. We look forward to hearing the public’s feedback and seeing the selected work chosen later this year.”  

Binki Taylor, CEO at The Brixton Project, said: “The shortlisted works for the Memorial to Victims of Transatlantic Slavery all tell the story of the pain and violence suffered by those affected both past and present.  This powerful memorial - long overdue, will educate Londoners and visitors on the significant role London played; act as a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives and their descendants by helping us all to remember the full richness of a people whose society and economic development was shattered.”

Bernardine Evaristo, Author, said: “There are currently over eight hundred public statues commemorating British history, which makes a permanent memorial to the transatlantic slave trade long overdue. We must never forget or whitewash this terrible era in British history which led to the mass murder and horrendous enslavement of millions of Africans, from the first slavers that set sail in 1662 to the first manumitted Africans in the British West Indies in 1834. As a nation unafraid to confront its complex past, we must remember and honour those who were subject to this atrocity and take lessons from it that ensure we continue to build a more egalitarian society founded on justice, equality, moral integrity and the humanity we all share.”

Aindrea Emelife, Curator of Modern and Contemporary at MOWAA (Museum of West African Art), said: “This memorial is incredibly important and long overdue. It has been an honour to serve on the advisory panel for this project. This memorial offers to opportunity for us to reflect on the legacies and complex, International trauma of the slave trade.

“Each artist brings forth their own perspective, and in doing so, proves there is so much more to the story than we have been told. The personal is political; public space is political. What and who we see matters, as does why and where we see it. Monuments speak past matters into the present and encourages new, more nuanced and more involved ways of seeing. Art is the emotional memory of the world; this commission is great and important testament to this important mission.”

Professor Olivette Otele, Professor of the Legacies & Memory of Slavery at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, said: “This is a significant step for London and for the Museum of London Docklands. These six leading artists have the ability to play a role in transforming London's urban landscape and influencing our collective memory of the history of enslavement'

Douglas Gilmore, Managing Director, Museum of London Docklands, said: “Together, these six shortlisted artists show us how our public spaces can honour the lives of the many men, women and children who suffered as a result of the transatlantic trade in enslaved people, an industry that had huge economic benefits for our city.

“Our museum on West India Quay occupies a former warehouse built in the 1800s to store produce grown and harvested by enslaved Africans in the West Indies; an example of how the very fabric of London has been shaped by this history. Now home to one of only a few permanent galleries in the UK devoted to this subject, and the only one in a European capital city,  I can think of no better place to have the memorial than outside the museum.”