Immorality Set in Stone by Law

Responding to protests against the statues of historical wrongdoers, e.g. Edward Colston’s statue that once stood at Bristol Harbour, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) promptly proposed the “Retain and Explain” Policy (2021) and Guidance (2023) of heritage assets: The reevaluation of any piece of heritage asset should proceed “with the presumption that it will be retained.” It further indicates that the decision of removal can be vetoed by the DCMS. The event will invite scholars across different disciplines, including philosophy, politics, urban studies, and art, to shed insight on the potential shortcomings of the policy, including how the policy fails to take into consideration the morally thorny issues of publicly honouring the immoral, artistic measures such replacing and transforming heritage assets, and current and future generations’ interest in reclaiming the scarce resource of high profile public space.