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One of Britain’s most famous sculptors has proposed a new solution to the argument about the disputed statue of Cecil Rhodes on top of an Oxford college: turn the colonialist to see the embarrassing wall.
Sir Antony Gormley, known for impacting public art as The Angel of the North, told the Financial Times that giving Rhodes a spin would help address the “collective amnesia” over these memorials as he faced the inequalities of the nation’s imperial past.
“Rhodes should remain in its niche,” Gormley said, dismissing arguments for removing the 19th-century imperialist from the façade of the Oriel College. “If we need to readjust our relationship with him, I would just turn him to the wall instead of looking outside.”
Adjusting their position would mark “a recognition of collective shame,” but it would also “reaffirm the fact that Oriel College and many institutions own properties of Rhodes’ wealth,” Gormley said.
The statue has been the subject of a tough six-year conflict between the anti-colonial movement Rhodes Must Fall, a divided university, and ministers who have strongly opposed removing these “historic monuments”. The university decided last week to keep the statue in place.
Gormley, who made a standing bronze figure overlooking another part of Oxford, described the time when statue of slave trader Edward Colston was “wrapped and recovered” from the port of Bristol last year as a sort of “baptism.” But he remains wary of moving controversial memorials to museums.
“Public statuary is subjected to collective amnesia extremely quickly. I don’t think it’s bad to ask again “who are these people and why are they here?”. But when you take them out, accept the amnesia, ”he said.
Rhodes founded Rhodesia and the De Beers diamond company and dedicated part of the fortune he amassed to Africa to support Oxford colleges and establish the scholarship of the same name for beneficiaries such as Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States.
Critics say his history of exploiting black workers and laying the groundwork for racial segregation in southern Africa should be condemned and disrespected.
Last year, in the face of street protests over the statue, Oriel’s governing body voted in favor of eliminating it and established an independent commission to explore the issues raised by his legacy and his memorials.
But once the commission’s report was finalized, last week Oriel changed direction and decided to keep the monument in place. He cited the costs of obtaining the urbanization permit, which would be long and likely blocked by Robert Jenrick, the local government secretary of state.
The commission’s 114-page report options explored for Oriel including the relocation of the statue of Rhodes inside, the emptying of the niche or the commissioning of new works of art to fill the space.
Sir John Hayes, the Conservative MP who chairs Parliament’s “Common Sense Group”, welcomed Gormley’s arguments in favor of maintaining the statue, but said the idea of turning it around was “totally absurd”. . “This is almost as close to general opinion as I am to abstract expressionism,” he said.
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