London council issues guide to dealing with statues of 'white male oppressors'

Camden Council’s instructions pledge to abolish the “white gaze of traditional memorialisation” in favour of a “truly inclusive and representative of our diverse and vibrant communities”.

The advice has been shared with influential heritage and local government organisations in the UK and across Europe that are responsible for public memorials.

These include the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England, English Heritage, and Historic England.

The Labour council’s advice addresses apparent fears that many public memorials honour figures from “white, male-dominated spheres of public life” who may have held “prejudiced beliefs about ethnicity, faith, gender, disability and sexuality”.

As well as links to slavery and racism, the guidance also warns of those whose wealth was gained through “oppression”, as part of an “elitist societal model” and the “subjugation of the working classes”.

Practical advice offered is drawn from Camden Council’s own pilot project, which saw a statue of Victorian Virginia Woolf provide context on her “imperialist attitudes and offensive opinions”.

Richard Olszewski, who leads Camden Council, has assured the authority will continue its review of local statutes, with 70 public works thought to be under consideration, in a bid to “celebrate our diversity”.

The guidance recommends a number of practical steps, including a series of questions to determine if a statute requires reinterpretation, The Telegraph reported.

Camden Council suggests it should be considered if “the individual/group express prejudiced, hateful or discriminatory views or ideas in their private or public writings, speeches or other material” and “did the individual/group promote ideologies that may be considered offensive?”.

It advises that memorials could be accompanied by information advising on any potential controversial actions or stances behind the work.

This could come in the form of a sign, a QR code leading to further information, as was done with the Virginia Woolf bust, or even “counter-memorials” that repudiate the original works.

In the advice, further research is recommended with “stakeholder engagement” and outreach programmes to allow “residents and communities to feel empowered”.

Camden Council also advises that these inquiries should be done “independently” to ensure “as far as possible, the research does not have a bias (e.g: political, societal) or a council-led agenda and is balanced and factual”.

A spokesman for the authority told GB News: “This toolkit provides guidance, hints and tips as well as good practice in designing projects to interpret statues and memorials. The toolkit was shared at a launch event with colleagues from London local authorities and organisations, who all responded very positively.”

The guidance excludes war memorials and statues depicting mythical beings from scrutiny.

Camden Council has been reviewing memorials to those who may have held “discriminatory ideas” in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

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