On 31st October, The Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller will announce his (provisional) design for the Peterloo Memorial in Manchester. He will also reveal the location of the artwork and unveil the maquette.
“A fitting memorial should be Respectful, Informative, and Permanent.”
On 16th August 1819 in St Peter’s Fields, Manchester, armed cavalry charged a peaceful crowd of around 60,000 people gathered to listen to anti-poverty and pro-democracy speakers. It is estimated that 18 were killed, and nearly 700 seriously injured.
A series of consultation meetings at different times throughout where people can react and comment will be set up, and details of these will be confirmed soon. Jeremy and the Council have developed an agreement document of criteria, which was signed off by all over a year ago.
The Peterloo Memorial Campaign is dedicated to ensuring that a fitting memorial is in place for the 200th Anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in 2019.
Peterloo is a landmark event in the history of British and international democracy. The people of Greater Manchester deserve a democratic say in the design, location and construction of the memorial, with extensive public consultation and input from inception to completion.
The memorial location must be both prominent and public, on a site of historical significance for the massacre.
It will be of comparable size and quality of materials to other major city centre monuments, with a respectful space around it for people to gather in contemplation or commemoration.
The memorial will be an object of civic pride which resonates with the people of Manchester and which expresses the spirit of democracy, economic justice and human rights.
The memorial should communicate the events of 16th August 1819 on St Peter’s Field in Manchester in an easily comprehensible and unflinching way.
The connection of the design to Peterloo should be straightforward and easy to understand, particularly in the light of the fact that many people have only a limited awareness of the massacre.
The memorial needs both to inform and inspire, and should be accompanied by a descriptive plaque, with wording about the massacre similar to the red plaque on the side of the former Free Trade Hall.
The memorial will be a permanent and durable object, one that will still be there in 2219, in a fixed location (as described above) to which the public have access at all times.
The memorial requires some form of public interaction to make it complete at each anniversary, as is appropriate for a monument to the ideals of citizenship and democracy, as long as the substantial and meaningful part of it is permanently in place.
The Peterloo Memorial Campaign is dedicated to ensuring that a fitting memorial is in place for the 200th
Anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre in 2019.
Peterloo is a landmark event in the history of British and international democracy. We believe that the people of Greater Manchester deserve a democratic say in the design, location and construction of the memorial, with extensive public consultation and input from inception to completion. A fitting memorial should be Respectful, Informative, and Permanent.
Top Photo: Paul Fitzgerald THE PETERLOO MEMORIAL CAMPAIGN