Basil Watson’s permanent monument to Windrush pioneers who arrived in Britain after World War II was unveiled at Waterloo Station in London on Wednesday. The’s 1 1 million state-funded statue depicts three figures – a man, a woman and a child – dressed in “Sunday’s best” climbing hand in hand on a mountain of suitcases. “The community probably never felt this would happen,” Watson said. “I have seen some people weep because their personal experience and their enormous contribution to the development and culture of Britain is recognized in this way.” Members of the Windrush generation and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge gathered in Waterloo for the unveiling. The event was broadcast live across the country, including Birmingham New Street Station and the National Railway Museum in York. The queen also sent a message to honor the occasion. He said: “It gives me joy to express my congratulations for the creation of the National Windmill Monument. The unveiling at Waterloo Station on Windrush Day serves as a fitting thank you to the Windrush pioneers and their descendants, in recognition of the profound contribution they have made to the UK over the decades. “I hope that the monument will serve to inspire present and future generations and I send you my warmest wishes on this historic occasion.” Windrush Celebration Committee Chair Floella Benjamin said the monument would be a permanent place of reflection, celebration and inspiration for Caribbean communities and the general public. Lady Benjamin at the unveiling on Wednesday. Photo: WPA / Getty Images “It will serve as a symbolic link to our past and a permanent reminder of our common history and heritage for future generations,” he said. “I hope it will be a catalyst for other monuments across Britain that commemorate the Windrush generation’s outstanding contribution to this country. “I am grateful to the members of the Windrush Celebration Committee for their unwavering commitment to ensuring that this monument bears fruit, and I hope the Caribbean communities we have worked to serve believe that we have vindicated them.” Watson, based in Atlanta, Georgia, has designed public sculptures and monuments around the world, including in China, the United States, Guatemala and Jamaica, and celebrities such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Bolt and Moore. The Windrush Monument marks its first public work of art in the United Kingdom and was built in “record time”. “Trying to figure out how to portray a generation spanning four decades, I thought: at what point on this line can I place the design? I decided to start from the beginning, from there everything starts and progresses. And so is the initial journey for the first family to come, a family that represents the past, the present and the future. “ The suitcases, he said, represented the family’s belongings and culture, “whatever they brought with them”. The father looks to the future, the mother “looks back home longingly waiting for what she is going to face and what she will leave behind”. It’s a significant commission for the artist, who spent part of his childhood in the UK after his parents traveled from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation. “He talks a lot about my trip. Both parents have passed, but the stories I heard growing up, which I paid little attention to flood again. It connects a lot of dots in terms of what my parents went through, their ambitions, their journey “. His father, the painter Barrington Watson, came to the UK to study art, so there is a peace of mind for his son to design this monument. “My parents would be very proud and excited,” he said. In particular, Watson said he hoped the Waterloo mover would remove the impression that the Windrush generation was heroic in their attitude and mission. “Today, when I travel, I’m still connected 24/7 through technology. In those days you left home, traveled abroad for a trip of three weeks and would not be with your family for another six months or a year. Years would pass before you could see your parents. So, it is almost as if when they leave home they are lost for a long time. “I can not imagine how traumatic it would be for that generation to hit the high seas.” Watson was selected after extensive consultation with the British-Caribbean community. His design received the most positive reviews from the public before being selected by the festive committee. The decision to erect the monument in Waterloo was criticized when it was first announced. Arthur Thorrington, co-founder of the Windrush Foundation, called for the monument to be located on Windrush Square in Brixton, saying Waterloo Station had “nothing to do” with Windrush’s arrival in 1948. But Watson emphasized the importance of his permanence in one of the busiest train stations in Britain. “I know a lot of people will go through Waterloo. “The symbolism of a transit station is great as it speaks to the movement of people,” he said. “As an artist, I recognize the potential of public art and its contribution to society and human psychology.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am There is also the controversy of a public sculpture celebrating immigrants being placed when the headlines revolve around the government’s refugee policy – whether it is those fleeing the war in Ukraine or asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda upon arrival. in the UK with small boats. “Human beings are migratory species,” Watson said. “I think people are moving, sometimes not so convincingly, to become a global village. Culturally, boundaries are blurring more and more – music for food, art. And the physical boundaries will eventually dissolve. So I think this monument is timeless. He speaks, as Bob Marley put it, about the Jah people movement. “
