Testify

Inequality between races has always existed throughout history. There have been extremely heinous and cruel events throughout history caused by racial and colonial violence, but we seem to be gradually forgetting them as society and civilization evolve. I was aware of the existence of this phenomenon before the George Floyd incident but didn’t pay much attention to the situation. This event was followed by various incidents of anti-Asian violence, which led me to follow the news reports of resistance in the world.

Various actions have been held around the world to remove statues of iconic figures who organized and participated in the slave movement. An article about King Leopold II of Belgium has particularly impressed me. During his tenure, he began colonizing the land in the name of granting freedom to the Congo.

“A father stares at the hand and foot of his five-year-old daughter, severed as a punishment for having harvested too little rubber.“

As a warning to disobedient black slaves, their wives and children will have their hands cut off, and there are allegations that nearly 15 million Congolese have been slaughtered.
—— New York Times

My design was inspired by this event. According to the records, there are at least 13 Leopold II in Belgium (only two are shown on Google Map), and it would be unrealistic to demolish them all. And I also believe that statue itself have a symbol of history, regardless of the nature of the historical events.

Thus, my design concept was that I replicated the base of the original statue, replacing the seemingly most important statue itself with a severed hand to document Leopold II’s misdeeds. I placed this statue opposite the original statue and named it “Testify” to witness the crimes of Leopold II. The size of “Testify” is not very large, its base is 100cm*130cm, in order to make it easier to place it in front of every sculpture or even any monument related to Leopold II. Although there was no destruction of the original statue, I think this is a powerful way to defend racial rights.