I took a couple of pictures as I passed my favourite London statue last week, thought worth posting here. It’s a fairly new installation at the entrance to Liverpool Street station.

Liverpool Street Kindertransport

The statue of course represents a terrible event in 20th century history, but what I like about it is it’s human scale.  It’s not a overscale affair mounted high on a plinth, it’s at ground level situated in a major pedestiran thoroughfare. If you drove past it chances are you’d miss  it. Many London statues commemerate military escapades or former imperial dominance, this however represents ordinary people.  This statue commemorates the children who were sent to England in order to escape flee persecution,  and perhaps death. They escaped the fate dealt out to the likes of  Ann Frank. They children portray a look of thankfullness and wonder, tinged with a little fear of the unknown, this makes the piece for me.  On a nearby wall is the following plaque:

People often sit around the bottom of the statue and quite disrepectufully leave their litter on it. Evidenced by the McDonalds bag seen here.  Children also clamber on it, a good thing, which probably leads parents to tell them something about it’s meaning.

For me it’s a piece of public art that really works because you can relate to, and have empathy for,  the figures depicted. No matter who you are, or where you’re from.

More info about the Kindertransport can be read HERE.