20 August 2008
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to officially unveil UK memorial to the
Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
On Thursday 4 September Archbishop
Desmond Tutu will officially unveil an exciting and important
new sculpture by artist Michael Visocchi and poet Lemn Sissay
which commemorates the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of
the transatlantic slave trade.
Close collaboration between Black British Heritage, the City
Corporation’s Street Scene team and specialist curators Future City
has resulted in a powerful combination of sculpture, poetry,
architecture and public space.
The artwork is significantly sited in London’s financial
district close to the site where the Rev. John Newton’s powerful
anti-slavery sermons in St. Mary Woolnoth church inspired the
abolitionist founder William Wilberforce.
The granite sculpture is comprised
of a group of columns surrounding a podium. The columns
suggest the form of sugar cane stems and the podium, an
ecclesiastical pulpit or slave auctioneer’s stance. The
columns are positioned so as to suggest an anonymous crowd or
congregation gathered to listen to a speaker. Sissay’s poem
‘The Gilt of Cain’, skilfully weaves the coded language of the
stock exchange trading floor with Old Testament biblical
references.
The Fen Court project is part of the City of London’s Street
Scene Challenge which seeks to create a high quality and attractive
public realm for the financial district’s residents, workers and
visitors. The memorial has been incorporated into Fen
Court’s newly designed courtyard and pedestrian route. This
project has been funded through a Section 106 Agreement with
British Land.
Ken Martindale, Chairman of Black British Heritage, said: “The
unique monument is a testament to the intertwined history of
Britain and the black community and will raise awareness of not
only the facts and issues around slavery – but also of the
contribution of black people to Britain.”
Christine Cohen, Chairman of the City of London’s Planning and
Transportation Committee said; “So many parties need to be thanked
for helping make this great project happen. Obviously we must
thank Michael and Lemn but also The Reverend Andrew Walker, Black
British Heritage, British Land and Futurecity all of which put in a
lot of work over the past five years“.
Ends
Notes for edtiors
Biographies of artist Mr Michael Visoccchi and
poet Mr Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay is the artist in residence at the Southbank Centre
and is an artsadmin artist.
Read the poem, The Gilt of
Cain (24kb)
For the City of London, improving the pedestrian experience is a
key objective. Working in partnership with business, the Street
Scene Challenge team manages the appearance of the City’s streets,
enhances the public realm and facilitates the flow of pedestrians
and vehicles around the City. Working from initial conception of a
project through to construction, the Street Scene team offers
single point project management, working as a co-ordinator and
catalyst to deliver innovative enhancement schemes in tandem with
the developer. The Street Scene team is proactive in its delivery
of high quality, challenging and contemporary new public space
projects ensuring the highest quality public realm for community
and users in the densest of urban areas. To date, over 50 schemes
have been successfully implemented and in total, schemes have
won seven awards.
Futurecity are one of the UK’s leading public art
agencies. Futurecity are also currently curating the
£2million Ebbsfleet Landmark Project and the Claire Woods/MAKE
Architects building at Grosvenor Waterside.
www.futurecity.co.uk
John Newton was Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth from 1779-1807 and
was a slave trader who later joined the Church and preached against
the evils of the slave trade. He is also known to have
encouraged and inspired William Wilberforce, who fought and won the
battle for the abolition of slavery. The current rector is
The Reverend Andrew Walker. Fen Court is the former
churchyard of St Gabriel’s church, Fenchurch Street, it was
destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt.
The Fen Court project is part of the Lime Street Street Scene
enhancement project which seeks to create a high quality and
attractive public realm for the area. The project has been funded
through a Section 106 Agreement with British Land. The project
involves Lime Street, Fenchurch Avenue, Fen Court and Billiter
Street. The main idea was to allocate more space to pedestrians and
to improve the pedestrian environment of the area by the
introduction of raised pedestrian tables and dropped kerbs, the
introduction of high quality materials such as York stone, granite
sets and granite paving, new trees and seating as well as a
monument to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
The sculpture was manufactured in close association with Bon
Accord Granite, Aberdeen.
To download images
of the sculpture please visit the Picture Library.
For further information please call: Andrew Buckingham,
City of London Corporation. Direct Line: 0207
332 1452