Birmingham Commonwealth Games: Artist to decorate Queen Victoria statue

An artist has been asked to "reimagine" and decorate a statue of Queen Victoria for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Hew Locke's 2019 exhibition at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery, Here's the Thing, featured figures decorated with ornate regalia and skulls.

The Birmingham 2022 Festival cultural programme said the temporary display would be done in a "respectful" way.

But the Save Our Statues campaign said the "hugely offensive" project was "cultural vandalism".

Mr Locke, who grew up in Guyana, has previously drawn up plans to re-dress statues of George Washington and Edward Colston.

This will be the first time he has been asked to decorate a public statue.

In an Instagram post he wrote: "Yes at last! They are letting me loose on an actual statue."

The Commonwealth Games festival and Ikon, who are commissioning the project, said: "As an artist, Hew Locke has been reimagining historical statues for 20 years.

"His interest in the power of statues originates from his childhood in Guyana where he passed a sculpture of Queen Victoria every day on the way to school."

His work will be unveiled on 14 June and will remain in place through the summer before it returns to its natural state.

The Save Our Statues campaign wrote on Twitter: "This is hugely offensive. It is not okay to let people disrespect the symbols of our heritage."

But the festival said the project "will be seen within the context of a wide-reaching six-month programme of over 200 performances, events and projects which all consider our place in the Commonwealth, the present moment and stories of Birmingham and the West Midlands".

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