Statue wars

Collective memory reshaping the past

Bibliographic Data

ID12649672
AuthorsJenny Gregory (0000-0001-5935-7408, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume18
Issue3
Pages564-587
Publication date2021-07-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory Australia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1449-0854 • E-ISSN: 1833-4881
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14490854.2021.1956333
OpenAlexW3200118570
LanguageEN
Citations received10

In a post-colonial era of reconciliation and truth-telling, many have questioned the symbolic power of statues. The storm of controversy that developed galvanised an electric energy in which statues were damaged or torn down. This article explores the recent statue wars – the toppling and demolition of statues in South Africa, Britain and the United States, and the paint splashing and graffitiing of statues in Australian cities. Most represent icons with a dark past and these attacks were underpinned by a legacy of colonialism and intergenerational attitudes to subjugated peoples. Statues became lightning rods for social conflict. Earlier clashes over statues in Perth in the 1980s are also examined, revealing that while the statue of a colonial figure was largely untouchable despite the dark side of his history, the statue of an Aboriginal leader erected to recognise Western Australia’s First Peoples was decapitated. The article concludes with a discussion of methods for dealing with the dark history of these silent sentinels from the past

Ancient history · Archaeology · Colonialism · Demolition · Political science · Power (physics · Sociology · Statue · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Public Spaces through Art

Tools

Open DOI