Editor’s Note:It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Cecile Nobrega on November 19, 2013 at the age of 94.
The Bronze Woman statue in Stockwell, London
In the south London town of Stockwell at the Stockwell Memorial Gardens is a 10-foot bronze sculpture of a woman holding a child. It is the first public statue of a black woman in England. The Bronze Woman was unveiled on October 8, 2008 (see BBC story). It was the brainchild of a Guyanese poet and local resident Cécile Nobrega (nee Burgan).
The Statue in Stockwell Memorial Gardens is a timely reminder to the entire struggle of women as the bearers of children, of their strength, and of their aspirations for future generations of women to achieve a higher status in life.
The statue was designed by renowned sculptor Ian Walters, whose many famous London sculptures include the Nelson Mandela statue next to the Royal Festival Hall. Walters died before the project was completed and it was finished by sculptor-artist Aleix Barbat, at Heatherley’s School of Fine Art. Continue reading