Statue01

THE
STATUE.

Len JohnsonManchesterPublic art

Taslim Martin's clay maquette of Len Johnson, in a boxing stance on a wooden base
Taslim MartinMaquetteClay

Ireland and Sierra Leone — his mother’s Irish heritage, his father’s home country

01 — The idea

The idea for a statue of Len came from members of the Manchester community, including our own director Deej Malik-Johnson, who noted there was no black representation in statues in Manchester. This despite Manchester’s growth as a city being heavily dependent on the cotton trade, produced by the stolen labour of enslaved African people.

Len Johnson greets supporters, from the Working Class Movement Library archive
Len Johnson greets supporters — Working Class Movement Library archive
A young supporter at a Len Johnson Campaign fundraising match, wearing a Show Racism the Red Card shirt
A Len Johnson Campaign fundraising match, Manchester

Manchester has a proud radical tradition and views itself as a city welcoming to those from around the world. Len’s story reminds us of the sacrifices and fortitude of those who walked before us to ensure this became possible. The fight against today’s injustices and discrimination remains, taken up by a new generation of activists inspired by the stories of people like Len Johnson. Our campaign highlights just one of many forgotten or ignored histories. There are many more, from Manchester and beyond.

02 — The family

Len’s family fully support the campaign for a statue. So much so that Len’s great granddaughter is one of our campaign’s Directors. The family were keen that Len stand alongside other statues in the city as someone whose story and achievements deserve to be highlighted.

03 — The sculptor

The campaign is now able to move forward with the final fundraising push for the statue. A crucial step was identifying the sculptor. We drew up a shortlist of 6 sculptors to formally invite to bid for the commission. Following this process, we were extremely happy to shortlist two artists and decided upon Taslim Martin, a London based sculptor of African and Caribbean heritage. We commissioned Taslim to produce a maquette, a preliminary model of Len, to ensure that we would be happy with the final statue’s design and look.

  1. 01Invitations issuedSix sculptors drawn up as a shortlist and formally invited to bid for the commission.Complete
  2. 02Shortlist reducedTwo artists.Complete
  3. 03Commission awardedTaslim Martin — a London based sculptor of African and Caribbean heritage.Complete
  4. 04Maquette commissionedA preliminary model of Len, to test the final statue’s design and look before it is made.Complete
  5. 05Maquette deliveredAccepted by the campaign. It is the photograph at the top of this page.Complete
  6. 06Final fundraising pushFor the life-size statue, to be unveiled in Manchester city centre.In progress

Taslim Martin

The Len Johnson maquette in a bronze finish, photographed pitchside at a football ground

Maquette — Len Johnson — bronze finish

LondonSculptorAfrican & Caribbean heritage

Taslim attended Art School in Cardiff and at the Royal College of Art in London. He was awarded the Sir Eduardo Paolozzi Travel Scholarship which facilitated research into West African sculpture. Taslim has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his works are in the permanent collection of the British Museum and the Horniman Gallery. Alongside gallery exhibitions, solo exhibitions, public art commissions like ours, Taslim also teaches. His output ranges from public art and design to portrait sculpture. This was important for us as we were keen to have a statue that captured the essence of a younger Len, when he was boxing.

Len Johnson in a boxing stance, early in his career

THE
YOUNGER
LEN.

ManchesterLife‑size

Taslim has told us this project feels very personal because he connects with Len’s story. This is exactly what we wanted, and we are all extremely happy with the work he has produced for us. We will be working alongside Taslim to see the vision of a life size statue of Len unveiled in the city centre of Manchester. Len will be life size, not towering above us, but a man of the people, as he lived his life. We hope Len’s statue site will become a meeting point and a place of education for Mancunians and visitors to the city for many years to come.