Edinburgh University has pulled its share of funding for a monument to the victims of slavery that would be placed in the capital’s Old Town.
The university, which is trying to make £140 million of cuts, is one of the partners behind the major new work of art, which was envisaged at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Supporters of the project insist it is going ahead. Council officials identified Makars’ Court, just off the Royal Mile and close to the university’s New College building, as a likely site for the statue.
Makars’ Court in EdinburghAlamy
It is understood that Hew Locke OBE, the Edinburgh-born sculptor, had been approached to create the work, which gained formal approval four years ago as authorities responded to the city’s historic links with slavery.
The monument will cost £750,000. Initially it was proposed that the council would contribute £300,000 from its new tourist tax, with the university matching this sum.
Sources at the university, which came under fire after campaigners unearthed the work of Robert Jameson, a 19th-century scholar who advanced the notion of white supremacy, said they had never committed to the project.
Edinburgh has, in recent years, been reckoning with its past links with slavery. There has been a lengthy dispute about the legacy of Henry Dundas, who, as war secretary, dragooned slaves to fight in the British Army to defeat Napoleon and is commemorated in his own monument in the New Town.
Terry Levinthal, the director of Edinburgh World Heritage, told The Herald newspaper that plans for the monument were still active.
He said: “We have supported the project and allocated funds from several funding pots, amounting to approximately £130,000.
“The funds for the sculptural elements were to be channelled through the Edinburgh Art Festival with some direct support from the trust for improvements to Makars’ Court.
“We were told recently of the university’s withdrawal from the project, which remains on our ‘active’ file pending further discussions which have still to be bottomed out.”
Terry Levinthal, the director of Edinburgh World Heritage
A university spokesman said: “The university has been clear about the financial challenges it is facing and we are taking responsible, carefully planned action to secure our long-term stability. This includes needing to make difficult but responsible decisions on costs across all areas, including reviewing funding for external projects such as this.
“We take our colonial legacy, and its contemporary impact, very seriously and our focus remains on the reparatory actions and long-term commitments we are undertaking following the publication of our own race review last year.
“While we have been unable to directly contribute funding to this project, it does not mean that we have withdrawn our support.”
The Herald reported that there were hopes that philanthropists could come forward to make up the difference and that talks had taken place last week to find a way forward.
Irene Mosota chairs a group that is set up to take forward recommendations of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review, which gave the artwork its approval.
Irene Mosota
She said: “This is an ongoing project. The Edinburgh Art Festival and other partners will provide an update soon. I am not in a position to offer further comment at this time.”
On Saturday, the Church of Scotland formally apologised for its links to slavery, including its role in providing a theological justification for the practice.
The Kirk’s annual General Assembly, as expected, adopted a motion saying it was “grieved beyond telling by the extraordinary suffering we have inflicted — through our actions and our inaction — on our brothers and sisters.”