Art / Edward Colston
Artwork of the fall of Colston’s statue takes over Easton billboard
A huge artwork depicting the fall of Colston’s statue and the continuing fight for justice has been installed on a billboard in Easton.
RTiiiKA, a Bristol-based illustrator and co-founder of the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective, drew the piece on the day Colston’s statue was pulled down.
“This artwork captures this historic moment and continues the cry for anti-racism to be an active part of our lives,” says the artist.
is needed now More than ever
Bristol Rising Tide, a direct action group, and RTiiiKA came together to reclaim the billboard space, which is usually dominated by corporate advertising.
“I’m hugely inspired by groups like AdBlock who are paving the way for Bristol to be ad-free,” says RTiiiKA. “It’s no surprise that these ginormous ad spaces have negative impacts on our mental health, the way we see (women’s) bodies, and the environment.
“When you put an artwork up in this space, it opens up the possibility to live a different reality – one where, instead of an advert selling you a mortgage looming overhead, you have an artwork that speaks to and celebrates the local community.”
RTiiiKA is inspired by AdBlock Bristol, who install artwork like this, a photo by Colin Moody in St Werburgh’s. Photo: Martin Booth
RTiiiKA is holding a socially distanced “exhibition” opening on Friday, July 10 at 6.30pm, to celebrate the artwork.
The artwork is not only political in its documentation of the statue’s fall and taking over advertising space, but it calls for continued anti-racist activism.
“The red rope has significance here,” says RTiiiKA. “I want it to clearly illustrate how the violent oppression and racism that Colston (and Bristol) profited from centuries ago, is still very much tangled to the present day racism that exists now.
“The rope that winds around the people in the crowd is also a call to myself, a white person, to recognise, and untangle and my own prejudices, privilege and position.”
RTiiiKA’s piece calls on white people to continue to recognise their privilege. Photo: Colin Moody
The artist calls on white people to continue to fight against their biases and subconscious discrimination against black people, saying: “Ultimately, I want it to hit home that Colston may have fallen, but we still need to have a tight grip on the rope that pulled him down.”
Main photo: RTiiiKA
Read more: Photography exhibition documents the fall of Colston’s statue
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
