J’can artists on shortlist for national Windrush monument

Two artists of Jamaican heritage are among four shortlisted to design the national Windrush monument at Waterloo Station.

Sculptor and painter Basil Watson has designed public sculptures and monuments across the world, including statues of Martin Luther King, Usain Bolt and Merlene Ottey. He was awarded the Order of Distinction (Commander Class) in 2016 by the Jamaican government in recognition of his artistic accomplishments. His family is part of the Windrush Generation.

British-Jamaican artist Thomas J Price was recently commissioned by Hackney Council to create a permanent sculpture honouring Hackney’s Windrush Generation, and has significant experience in creating public artwork. He works across sculpture, film and photography, focus on representation and perception in society.

Completing the group are Jeannette Ehlers, whose work addresses complex questions about memory, race and colonialism, influenced by her Danish-Trinidadian heritage, and Valda Jackson, daughter of Windrush generation pioneers, whose collaborative public art practice ‘Jackson and Harris’ won the Marsh Award for excellence in public sculpture from the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association in 2017.

The four were selected by the Windrush Commemoration Committee (WCC), chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE, who said:

“The monument will be a permanent place of reflection and inspiration for Caribbean communities and the wider public, especially children. It will act as a symbolic link to our past, and a permanent reminder of our shared history and heritage for generations to come.”

London Waterloo Station is strongly associated with the stories of many members of the Windrush Generation. It stands at a point where thousands of Windrush pioneers first arrived in London before starting new lives across the UK.

Over the summer, the public will be encouraged to consider the proposals.

The winning design is planned be revealed in Black History Month in October and the monument is expected to be unveiled on Windrush Day 2022.