From April 2019, a bronze head and shoulders by John Reardon is on temporary loan to Conway Hall and can be found in The Library.

The bust of Chelsea Manning, activist and whistleblower, sits alongside artwork and objects that celebrate the efforts of campaigners throughout history who have fought for issues such as the freedom of the press, opposition to war and greater social equality.

Chelsea Manning is a former army intelligence analyst who released almost 750,000 military and diplomatic documents into the public domain via WikiLeaks in 2010 including US military war logs about the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, private cables from the State Department and assessments of Guantánamo prisoners, revealing systematic human rights abuses and war crimes. She served seven years of a 35-year prison sentence, and was freed after former president Barack Obama commuted her sentence. At the time of writing, she is again in prison for her continued refusal to testify before a grand jury against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Sometimes You Have to Pay a Heavy Price to Live in a Free Society. (Chelsea Manning, August 21, 2013, Common Dreams)

Monument for Chelsea Manning is a bronze bust of Chelsea Manning as well as a project about the ongoing attempt to install a piece of public art in Haverfordwest, Wales where Chelsea’s mother was born and continues to live and where Chelsea attended the town’s secondary school for several years. The bronze bust is currently on temporary loan to Conway Hall Ethical Society, London where it will remain until a permanent site in Haverfordwest can be found.

Timeline

2017 Meeting with Chelsea’s family, Haverfordwest, Wales.

2017 Presentation of project to Welsh Assembly, Cardiff, Wales.

2018 Conversation about project with Professor Rosalyn Deutsche, New York, USA https://theartsjournal.net/

2018 Working on clay head and shoulders, studio, Berlin, Germany

2019 Making bronze cast, foundry, Kent, England.

2019 Installation of bronze bust in Conway Hall Library, London, England

2019 Planning application for public sculpture in Swan Square, Haverfordwest, Wales.

John Reardon is Artist in Residence in the Politics Department at Goldsmiths, London

Johnreardon.info

Please note that any opinions, statements or views by either the artist or subject are not necessarily those of Conway Hall.

The Library is open on Tues, Weds and Thurs between 10.00 and 17.00