Eden Court in Inverness steps in to save Black Lives Matter signs on Ness Bridge
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Staff at the Eden Court arts venue will step in and gather Black Lives Matters signs that were placed on an Inverness bridge.
After being threatened with removal from Ness Bridge by Highland Council, organisers have spoken with staff at Eden Court who will display them in an exhibition.
A variety of messages appeared in the city centre over the weekend, prompted by the death of African-American George Floyd (46), while in police custody in the United States last month.
One of the organisers Catherine Welsh said: "We've had a number of suggestions for what we can do with the posters. Jaymie Fraser, who started the Black Lives Matter Inverness Instagram page, has spoken with Eden Court.
"They are going to make a display of all our work. The posters will be taken down from the bridge this evening, then she'll give them to Eden Court."
Ms Welsh continued: "This is great news for Inverness and the Highlands. The posters the people of Inverness have made have been incredible for raising awareness for Black Lives Matter and highlighting that the people of Inverness stand with the movement.
"From our first 20 posters being torn down to some horrible comments on social media which we've witnessed under the news stories, we can see that racism does still exist in the Highlands.
"In order to combat this, I've started a group on Facebook for people to speak about racism in the Highlands and how we're going to tackle it going forward.
"It will be a safe place for people of colour to share their experiences in the Highlands, offer ways for white people to be able to support and help amplify these voices. It will offer guidance and discussion on difficult issues such as how to have conversations with family and friends who are still expressing covert racism, or socially 'acceptable' forms of racism. Share resources and continue learning."
Ms Fraser said: "When I decided to get involved in the Black Lives Matter campaign, I wanted to know what we could do in Inverness. I did not feel that I could remain silent.
"People tried to discourage me from taking a stand because they did not want me to get hurt in the process. But my motivation was that I didn't want my children to grow up in a place that they could not be themselves and everything they could be because of any sort of discrimination.
"So it was with some anxiety that I created the campaign. We now have more than a 1000 people following the Instagram page.
"We knew the posters couldn't be up on the bridge forever, and we had arranged to take them down on Tuesday night. In the meantime I contacted Eden Court and asked if they would be able to help. They said they would be able to.
"People have put in so much time and effort into designing and making their posters that it would be a real shame that they were not kept to mark the stand that Inverness took for Black Lives Matter, and discrimination, it is very important to many people in the Highlands.
"We are all so grateful to Eden Court for offering a plan for our artwork and banners, the movement and change means a lot to each person who put a message on the bridge, and I’m so happy that Eden Court are behind each one of us in trying to educate and make Inverness a better place.”
Last week Eden Court officials denounced racism while admitted that although they were proud of the diversity it presents on its stages and screens, more could be done.
A spokeswoman for the venue said this afternoon: "The statement was considered by many Eden Court colleagues and board members. We challenged each other, and we tried our hardest to find the right words, to admit that we had more to do, to talk openly about our own experiences and to commit to holding ourselves accountable for our actions.
"In light of our public commitment to do better, we are proud to provide a home for the banners and artworks from the peaceful protest on Ness Bridge.
"The banners and artworks will be brought to Eden Court this Friday and we will aim to have found a way to display them on our grounds by the middle of next week. As Eden Court is closed we cannot yet exhibit them inside. To protect the works, we will find a sheltered place for them to be viewed outside for a two-week period.
"When Eden Court reopens we will exhibit the works in one of our exhibition spaces before allowing them to be collected by their owners or placed in Eden Court’s archive."
Meanwhile, a new Facebook group to further discuss anti-racism in the Highlands has been set up, it can be found at www.facebook.com/groups/HARIscotland
