On Wednesday 29 September Samson Kambalu’s sculpture Antelope was unveiled on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth.
Ekow Eshun, chair of the Fourth Plinth commissioning group, said it ‘speaks truth to power about how the peoples of the Empire continue to have a relationship with Britain, how these ties of place, nation and identity continue to resonate back and forth across the Atlantic, across continents.’
The Guardian have given it five stars saying ‘The Malawian-born artist’s traditional bronze figures might suggest a win for the culture warriors, but they subversively celebrate an anti-colonial hero’ and Londonist says it ‘packs a powerful message’.
At the unveiling Samson Kambalu said ‘I think this is where we could comfortably say that the British Empire turned into the Empire of the Antelope. I think Chilembwe’s gift to the world has been delivered.’ Read more from Samson in his memoir The Jive Talker.
(Photos by Joe Newman)
