Another Leopold II removed: Bergen University yields Abroad

The statue was moved years ago from the entrance hall of the Faculty of Economics and Management to a less visible place, but now it has been permanently stored in the university collection “so that no one – students, lecturers or external visitors – can be offended by the presence, ”said a spokesperson.

The statue is placed in the collections of UMons and managed by the MUMons museum.

Antwerp

In several places in Belgium, statues of Leopold II have been smeared and damaged in recent days following the Black Lives Matter protest that spilled over from the United States.

Leopold II is held responsible for a reign of terror and the death of 10 million Congolese in what was then the Congo Free State, which was privately owned in the 19th century. In the Antwerp district of Ekeren, a defaced statue of the man was removed for recovery on Tuesday, but it may not return, according to the mayor.

Also Columbus target

Statues must also suffer in other places in the world. For example, British protesters turned against the statue of slave trader Edward Colston. In the US, protesters have destroyed statues of Christopher Columbus in several places. The effigy of the famous and controversial explorer was beheaded in Boston, Massachusetts, and ended up in a lake in Richmond, Virginia, according to local media.

Peaceful protests preceded the attack on the statue in Richmond. Some 1,000 people gathered in a park to show solidarity with the indigenous people of the United States. Rioters later toppled the statue. They set it on fire and threw it into a lake. It is still unclear who attacked the statue in Boston.

Both images were previously targeted by activists. For example, in 2015 someone wrote the words “lies” and “genocide” on the effigy of Columbus in Richmond. That same year, someone smeared the statue in Boston with red paint. At that time the slogan “Black Lives Matter” was written on it.

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