Getting the Knife Angel to London

Boris Johnson Backs the National Monument against Violence and Aggression

After four years of countless unsuccessful attempts to get the Knife Angel onto the 4^th plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square, The British Ironwork Centre’s Founder and Chairman Clive Knowles recently met with Boris Johnson, Former Mayor and Foreign Secretary, to discuss backing and supporting the monument.

Boris Johnson, Former Mayor of London & Foreign Secretary, and Clive Knowles, Founder & Chairman of The British Ironwork Centre

Since its conception, it has been intended for the 27ft Angel to be hosted in London, where its powerful voice and intended message of the UK’s intolerance to violence and aggression can be sufficiently heard. The sculpture very recently began its journey across the UK, beginning at the end of November 2018 where it stood proudly outside of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral over the Christmas period. Since, the Angel has made its way east to the city of Hull’s famous Queen’s Gardens, and will shortly be travelling south to Coventry where it will stand beside the cathedral ruins across from Coventry University. Many other cities, cathedrals and places of public interest have stepped forward and expressed interest in hosting the Knife Angel next, but there are current plans to get it to Birmingham as soon as possible following the recent and shocking knife crime figures emerging from their city walls. Although it was never our intention for the Angel to travel across the UK on tour, we are very proud of what the sculpture has achieved over the past four months and hope its constant movement will bring it to London very soon.

Following current London mayor Sadiq Kahn’s repeated push back, Boris has stepped up to the plate with promising ideas for the Angel’s placement in London. During his meeting with Clive, it was suggested that the sculpture could either be placed in the Olympic Park or Basildon, where it will continue to educate our youth, raise important awareness surrounding knife crime, and act as a memorial to all the lives lost at the hand of a blade. Boris has offered to write to Kahn himself to not only help us to get the Angel to the capital city, but to also help address any fears that Kahn may have with regard to hosting the sculpture.

This meeting with Boris Johnson proved extremely positive for both the centre and the Angel, and we are very excited to see where it goes next now that we have the support of Mr Johnson, himself.