The Wake is a planned sculpture byKhaleb Brooks that will be a memorial to the victims of theAtlantic slave trade.[1] It will be sited onWest India Quay in East London and is intended to be completed in 2026.[1]
Brooks's design was chosen from a shortlist of six by a panel of judges.[1] They said that "When we talk about the transatlantic slave trade we're speaking to people’s history and not just black people’s histories ... It's everyone's history on this land, no matter what our involvement was".[1] TheMayor of London,Sadiq Khan, said the sculpture was a "stark reminder of the pain and suffering caused by transatlantic slavery and the role the UK and London played" and that it was " ... essential that London’s streets, statues and memorials reflect our shared history, and this memorial will help to remind and educate Londoners of the capital’s role in this terrible treatment of human beings".[1] The memorial was announced on the Unesco International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition on 23 August 2024.[1]
The Wake is in the form of acowrie shell and is 7 meters in height.[1] It will be cast in bronze.[1] The interior of the shell will list the names of enslaved people and havewind chimes to create asoundscape.[1]
A cowrie shell was chosen by Brooks after he learnt of the use of theshells as currency in transactions involving enslaved people during the slave trade.[1]
The Wake will stand onWest India Quay in the Docklands area of East London. The quay was the site of the importation of commodities that were produced by enslaved people.[1] Thestatue of Robert Milligan which wasremoved during the George Floyd protests formerly stood nearby.[1]
