University News Last updated 24 June
Two alumni from Birmingham City University (BCU) have contributed to an iconic new monument honouring the Windrush generation.
Fine Art graduate Luke Perry created the monument, which will permanently reside in Wolverhampton City Centre and has been launched as part of Windrush Day (June 22). The monument – depicting the bow of a Windrush ship, an anchor and rising chains – also features a poem written by Casey Bailey, who graduated from BCU with an MA in Education.
The monument will be the first permanent fixture outside of London to honour the Windrush generation and was unveiled as part of a community-led ceremony in St Patrick's Park.
Organisations involved in the project include Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, Churches 4 Positive Change, SIAN Computers, City of Wolverhampton Council, and Black History & Heritage Wolverhampton.
Speaking previously on behalf of Wolverhampton's Windrush Committee, Bishop Ruben King, from Churches 4 Positive Change said: "This monument honours those who were invited to cross oceans, came and reshaped Wolverhampton with their hands, their hope and their unbreakable spirit."
Luke graduated from BCU in 2003 and has since forged a highly successful career as a sculptor and artist, often focusing on heritage and community. His previous works include a monument for reserved occupations in World War Two and a sculpture in Birmingham to commemorate World AIDS Day.
He was given the opportunity to work on a Windrush-focused monument after meeting Wolverhampton City Council’s Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, who attended one of the BCU alumnus’ previous unveilings that touched upon bhangra and the black arts movement in the Midlands city.
“My style always adapts to who I’m working with, as I’m making something that represents them,” Luke explains. “It doesn’t do well for an artist who’s working with different communities, who are all very different, to have one look.
“This piece is not just representative of Windrush but also the greater Black Country. It is strong and metallic, which is something that people in the Midlands are very familiar with. It feels like home if it is made from the things that you relate to those places.”
The monument also has anchors and chains, representing the sense of stability that people from the Windrush generation felt when making Wolverhampton their new long-term home.
Alongside Luke, contributions also came from fellow BCU graduate and Alumni of the Year winner Casey Bailey. The former Birmingham Poet Laureate’s work, A Monument is a Testament, is cut into the steel. Black artist Victoria Murrain, a student at University of Wolverhampton, also provided painted imagery that tells family stories of the Windrush generation.
“We were keen to make sure a number of black artists in Wolverhampton could get involved to the project, such as Victoria,” Luke says. “There are not enough artists of colour in this country, sadly, but what I’ve always tried to do in my projects is involve people from the background I’m working with. This way, they get their name on a national monument and their foot on the ladder of public artwork. Victoria’s an awesome artist that works with colour – having those vivid colours on the metal sculpture helped connect it to that West Indian heritage.”
The monument has been described as a “powerful and lasting recognition of [the Windrush] legacy” by the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Paul Singh, and Luke feels it has arrived at a vital time in British culture.
“I feel very honoured to be a part of a push for greater representation when there feels like, in this country, there’s a constant wish to divide us,” he explains. “There’s a great diversity in the UK and that exists because people have come to work for a better country and a better world. We’ve laboured and manufactured next to each other. We are a diverse and beautiful nation, and this monument has come at a good time. It’s about educating people on the real history of this country.”