Outrage as exhibits in the Windrush Untold Stories exhibition in Brixton’s Windrush Square were smashed and desecrated.
An outdoor exhibition in Brixton which celebrates the legacy of the Windrush Generation has been vandalised in what organisers believe was a racially charged attack.
The Windrush Untold Stories exhibition, currently on display in Windrush Square, south London, was targeted earlier today (July 3).
Portraits featured in the exhibition were smashed and defaced, with organisers describing the incident as a “blatant act of racial hatred”.
The exhibition was created by Friends of Windrush Square in collaboration with the Empathy Museum, Photofusion, Born or Made, & the Black Cultural Archives.
The aim of these displays was to honour the history and contributions of the Windrush Generation through storytelling and visual arts.
They include works by the late Clovis Salmon, also known as Sam the Wheels—a pioneering documentarian and photographer.
In a statement, Friends of Windrush Square expressed “profound concern and outrage” following what it called a “disturbing incident of racist desecration”.
“The damage appears to have been carried out intentionally with the clear aim of causing offence, hurt and division,” the statement said. “This act has caused considerable distress to local residents, artists, volunteers and project partners, many of whom are directly connected to the Windrush legacy.”
Chair of Friends of Windrush Square, Ros Griffith, condemned the attack as “deeply upsetting and shocking”.
“Windrush Untold Stories was created to celebrate the contributions and resilience of the Windrush Generation, whose story is central to the fabric of British life,” Griffiths said. “That it should be targeted in such a hateful way is a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges we face in building an inclusive and respectful society.”
Griffith added: “The desecration of a public commemorative exhibition of this nature raises wider questions about the protection of cultural spaces and the importance of confronting racism in all its forms.
“We call on Lambeth Council, the Metropolitan Police and the wider community to stand in solidarity with the Windrush Generation and demand accountability for this abhorrent act.”
The shocking incident has been reported to the Metropolitan Police.
The Windrush Untold Stories exhibition aims to educate and commemorate through powerful storytelling and archival imagery, including the work of Clovis Salmon, whose photographs documented decades of Black British life.
The vandalised image of the late Clovis Salmon, also known as Sam the Wheels, a beloved Windrush documentarian whose photographs chronicled Black British life for decades (Pic: Ros Griffith)
