In 2026, a new memorial to the 12.5 million enslaved people transported to the Americas and Europe – and their descendants – will be unveiled on West India Quay in London’s Docklands.
The winning commission, an installation piece by US artist Khaleb Brooks called The Wake, will take the shape of a seven-metre bronze cowrie shell – the currency that was used in the trade of enslaved peoples, and an object symbolic of the entangled history of slavery and capitalism.
The location of this installation, outside the London Dockland Museum, means it will in effect replace the statue of Robert Milligan, the Scottish merchant and slave trader, which was removed, shrouded and covered in words of protest in June 2020.
