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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 11 december 2019

Monumental statue of black man

defies Confederate monuments

By SARAH RANKIN dential street and National cities have been ham-
Associated Press Historic Landmark district. strung in their attempts to
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Both the Stuart statue and remove or relocate Con-
massive bronze sculpture "Rumors of War" feature federate monuments be-
of a young black man in regal, muscular horses in cause of a state law that
a hoodie astride a horse virtually the same pose, protects memorials to war
was permanently installed with one front leg lifted. veterans. That issue could
Tuesday in Virginia's capital Both riders are turned to get another look in Janu-
city, not far from one of the the side, though instead of ary when the state legisla- The statue titled Rumor's of War by artist Kehinde Wiley gets fully
country's most prominent Civil War-era garb, Wiley's ture convenes, controlled unveiled after the tarp covering the statue got stuck for a while
at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., Tuesday,
displays of Confederate is dressed in streetwear: a by Democrats for the first Dec. 10, 2019.
monuments. hoodie, ripped jeans and time in a generation.q Associated Press
At least 1,000 people sneakers, with dreadlocks
crowded the lawn of the gathered atop his head.
Virginia Museum of Fine Mounted on a large stone
Arts as "Rumors of War" was pedestal, Wiley's sculp-
unveiled in its new home. ture is just blocks away
The piece, the first pub- from Monument Avenue.
lic sculpture by prominent It is prominently displayed
artist Kehinde Wiley and along the city's historic
Wiley's laragest work to Arthur Ashe Boulevard, a
date, was previously on dis- thoroughfare renamed in
play in Times Square. honor of the black tennis
"Rumors of War" is Wiley's great earlier this year. It sits
response to the Confeder- next to the headquarters
ate monuments that pep- of the United Daughters of
per the United States and the Confederacy.
the South in particular. Tuesday's installation came
"This is a story about Ameri- amid an ongoing debate
ca 2.0," he said Tuesday. in Richmond about what
Wiley is well known for his do with its Confederate
regal portraits of black monuments and how its
Americans, including one history as the capital of the
of former President Barack Confederacy and an epi-
Obama that's displayed center of the international
at the National Portrait slave trade should be told.
Gallery. He said he was in- A commission formed by
spired to create "Rumors of Mayor Levar Stoney in 2017
War" after seeing a massive issued nonbinding recom-
equestrian monument hon- mendations that called for
oring Confederate Gen. removing a statue of Con-
J.E.B. Stuart during a visit to federate President Jef-
Richmond in 2016. ferson Davis, leaving the
The Stuart monument is one rest and adding historical
of five giant Confederate context. That commission's
statues that dot Monument work has been rolled into a
Avenue, a prestigious resi- second one. Some Virginia