‘It’s every woman, it’s us’: Rotterdam falls for British statue of ordinary black woman

By Senay Boztas via https://www.theguardian.com/

With Moments Contained, sculptor Thomas J Price challenges convention and makes us question who gets to be seen

Thirteen-year-old Maada looks up at the woman twice her size, in tracksuit bottoms and trainers, paused at the busy station forecourt of Rotterdam Centraal station.

Her art class is here to see this new statue by British artist Thomas J Price, Moments Contained – not a man who did something, a naked white sylph or someone’s colonial hero but an ordinary-looking black woman. Three weeks after being unveiled, the bronze artwork is part of the school’s curriculum on the Netherlands’ history of colonialism and slavery.

“It’s nice to see something other than a white man in a suit,” said Maada. “I’ve never seen a bronze woman with normal clothes. It’s nice to recognise something and it’s good to put it in this place where everyone can see it.”

Even before Moments Contained was unveiled, it provoked a storm in this port city where 55% of the population has migrant origins. Some opinions…

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