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The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

History Speak guide explaining during tour

Please note that this event has already occured.

Key information

Date: Tuesday 12 July 2022

Time: 11:00am to 1:00pm

Venue: Parliament Square, Westminster, London, SW1P 3JX, GB

Cost: Free

Join me on a walking tour around Westminster - the beating heart of British politics, that was once the centre of a global empire. Even though Britain’s imperial power is relegated to history, the long process of colonisation and decolonisation defines the world we live in today.

At its height, the phrase "the Empire on which the sun never sets" was used to describe the vastness of the British Empire. Today, symbols of decolonisation such as statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela occupy the same space as Imperial heroes like Sir Winston Churchill. What does this tell us about post colonial Britain and the soft power of monuments?

Explore stories of conflict and change; memorialisation and marginalisation; colonial past and complex present in the public realm.

We will discover how narratives and ideas from history connect to our present through the Black Lives Matter movement, the Gurkha Justice Campaign, the Retain and Explain law and the Policing Bill 2021.

This walk is free to the public thanks to funding from the Mayor of London's Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.

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