Artist Grada Kilomba finalist to create slavery memorial in London
The project "Archeology of Contemplation" recalls the slavers' ships that transported millions from Africa to the Americas.
Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba is among the six finalists in the competition for the Memorial to the Victims of Transatlantic Slavery to be erected in London, the winner of which will be announced at the end of the year, the British capital's City Council has announced.
Kilomba's proposal includes a rectangular plinth 11 metres long on which 140 black bronze castings will be placed in the shape of a ship to symbolise the transport of slaves, with 18 pieces of gilded bronze in tribute to the victims. The sculpture will have a poem engraved on it by the Portuguese artist and translated into six different languages from communities descended from the African diaspora in London.
"I propose a poetic sculpture to promote reflection on the Middle Passage. The Middle Passage was the brutal journey of millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to forced labour in the Caribbean and the Americas," described the artist.
The new monument, the first of its kind in the UK, is due to be inaugurated in 2026 and will be funded by £500,000 (€590,000) from the Mayor, Sadiq Khan. The initiative includes an educational programme to reflect on the experiences and resistance of enslaved Africans and London's role in organising and financing the slave trade. The other finalists are Alberta Whittle, Helen Cammock, Hew Locke, Khaleb Brooks and Zak Ové.
The memorial will be located in West India Quay, in the Docklands area, an area by the River Thames where there are still buildings that were once used to store sugar from West Indian plantations where enslaved men, women and children worked.
This historical relationship with transatlantic slavery is already recognised by the Museum of London Docklands. The memorial will stand next to where a statue of Robert Milligan (1746-1809) stood until it was removed in 2020 following pressure from the Black Lives Matter movement. Kilomba proposes replacing the plinth where that statue stood with an area for people to sit and "remember and contemplate".
Background
Born in 1968 in Lisbon, Grada Kilomba lives and works in Berlin, Germany, where she completed a doctorate in Philosophy. With roots in São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola, Grada Kilomba has worked on issues of racism, post-colonialism, memory and trauma and gender.
Her work has been exhibited at events such as the 10th Berlin Biennale, Documenta 14 in Kassel, the Lubumbashi VI Biennale, and the 32nd São Paulo Biennale, as well as in various international museums and theatres.
The installation and performance 'The Boat' was presented at Somerset House in London in 2022.