Contested Histories in Public Spaces: Principles, Processes, Best Practices Contested Histories in Public Spaces: Principles, Processes, Contested Histories in Public Spaces Principles, Processes, Best Practices An International Bar Association Task Force Report Contested Histories in Public Spaces Principles, Processes, Best Practices February 2021 International Bar Association 4th Floor, 10 St Bride Street London EC4A 4AD T: +44 (0)20 7842 0090 F: +44 (2)20 7842 0091
[email protected] www.ibanet.org © International Bar Association 2021 Cover image: A statue of Winston Churchill in London’s Parliament Square is defaced for a second day, amidst Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020. © Ben Thornley/Shutterstock Contents In Memoriam 6 Task force members/special advisers/researchers & writers/research assistants 7 Preface by Co-Editors 11 Introduction: What time is this statue? 13 Case Study I: Toppling Edward Colston 19 Edward Colston Statue, Bristol Case Study II: Litigating Robert E Lee 51 Robert E Lee Equestrian Statue, Charlottesville, Virginia Case Study III: Why Rhodes fell 73 Cecil Rhodes Statue, University of Cape Town, Cape Town Case Study IV: Politics of former slave ports 97 Signage and Street Names, Nantes and Bordeaux Case Study V: Colonial legacies in Senegal 125 Louis Faidherbe Statue, Saint Louis Case Study VI: Red Army as liberator or occupier? 147 Bronze Soldier Memorial, Tallinn Case Study VII: Commemorating ‘comfort women’ 175 Statue of Peace: Asia, America, Europe Case Study VIII: Contested history of a founding father 199 Langevin Block, Ottawa Case Study IX: Re-thinking Christopher Columbus 223 Monument to Cristóbal Colón, Buenos Aires Case Study X: James Cook through Indigenous eyes 249 Botany Bay Memorial, Sydney Conclusion: Principles, Processes, Best Practices 277 In Memoriam Edward Mortimer, CMG 1943-2021 The Task Force acknowledges the significant contributions of Edward Mortimer to this volume of case studies and to the broader Contested Histories in Public Spaces project.