Second session of my #monuments research series is LIVE at - http://nottingham.ac.uk/go/CRVCmonuments. It explores monuments in the contexts of #socialjustice movements in the 2010s. Please share! Also a few of the themes covered a THREAD (1/7) @uonarthistory @HMILeeds #arthistory

First - arguments for and against removing #monuments with white supremacist histories. I clarify my opinion (spoiler-no justification for harmful objects in public space) and how #arthistory should critically analyse visual culture, not form a protective shield around it (2/7).

Next the #RhodesMustFall movement at the University of Cape Town and the University of Oxford. We explore the destruction of Rhodes’ image in the wider context of historical white supremacy being replicated in contemporary educational structures (3/7) @RhodesMustFall

We then discuss how Confederate #monuments institutionalised and legitimised white supremacist ideology in the 20th century. Focusing on the Lost Cause myth, we explore how the systematised production of monuments mobilised racism across the USA (4/7)

Focusing on the #monument to Robert E. Lee in Richmond Virginia as a case study, we look at the reclamation of monuments in the context of the #BLM movement and how the idea of “monumentality” can be disrupted through creative expression. (5/7)

These images show how the Lee #monument is covered with layers and layers of new colourful images and text honouring the #BLM movement. This is a significant moment for #arthistory and a massive shout out to @United_Statues for these amazing photographs. (6/7)

Lastly the pedestal of the #monument to Edward Colston. Like the Lee monument, this creative reclamation reverses the hierarchy of beliefs based on race and class the monument was intended to represent, and highlights its significance as a markers of racial injustice (7/7).