An unidentified black woman in central London.. What is the story of the “Lady in Blue” statue?

A new sculpture entitled “Lady in Blue” by the American artist residing in New York, Tshabalala Self, was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in the British capital, London. The work will remain in place for two years. The bronze statue depicts an unidentified dark-skinned young woman, wearing a blue dress that defines her figure, and heeled shoes of the same color, along with jewelry made of glass beads.

The statue is the 16th to be installed on the “fourth plinth” in Trafalgar Square, as part of a public art program launched by the Royal Society of Arts, and today it enjoys support from the Mayor of London, the Arts Council of England, and the Bloomsbury Charitable Foundation. The work comes amid a group of the most prominent historical landmarks in the square, including Nelson’s Column and statues of lions designed by artist Edwin Landseer in the nineteenth century.

However, Self chose to move away from the tradition of memorials that evoke figures and events of the past, to present through her work an image of contemporary women, and to turn her presence into a visual reference to the future. The artist said in an interview before the statue was unveiled: “I wanted to direct everyone’s attention to the future.

“I don't think there are enough monuments that deal with our shared future.” Rare statue of a dark-skinned woman The work takes on additional significance by being one of the rare statues in the UK that depicts a dark-skinned woman.

Of the approximately 1,500 statues in London, women of color are poorly represented. This issue intersects with the essence of Self's artistic experience, which is famous for dealing with the body of dark-skinned women through works that open a discussion about race, gender, and sexual identity.

Self sees this reality as not just a statistic, but rather a space to rethink the way women are represented in the public sphere. However, at the same time, she stresses that representation is not the only goal or focal point of her sculptural works, explaining that talking about dark skin color does not detract from the value of the work.

She adds that the audience's entry into the work from this particular perspective may expose it from the beginning to a process of reduction, "because they begin to name and define the characters based on their political identity." The artist's first statue was vandalized. "Lady in Blue" represents Self's first public sculptural work in the United Kingdom since 2023. Her statue, "Seated," was vandalized after it was installed in the English town of Bexhill-on-Sea, as unknown assailants sprayed white paint on the skin of the black woman embodied in the statue.

Self said that her feeling of sadness after the statue was vandalized turned into a rich experience, after the incident revealed the forms of assault, violence and intimidation that real people face in their daily lives, considering that the statue had “performed its role.” Following the incident, members of the local community participated in cleaning the statue and removing the white paint from it, in an initiative that Self saw as an indication of people’s willingness to overcome the problems facing society.

With the new statue, Self is preparing to continue the discussion about the importance of embodiment in art and the representation of different identities in public spaces, stressing that these dialogues, even when difficult, can contribute to expanding knowledge and enhancing awareness. The work also adds a striking visual presence to Trafalgar Square, through the woman's braided hair, jewelry, and appearance in shades of blue inspired by the lapis lazuli stone, while the character appears confidently moving forward, indicating movement, optimism, and moving toward the future.

Self hopes that visitors to the square, through which thousands of people pass every day, will find something to express themselves in the statue, saying: “I want her, in the end, to become one of the residents of London.”