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Gandhi came to England in the early twentieth century to study law, but found his calling in campaigning for the rights of the Indian poor and for India’s independence from what was then the British Empire. The statue depicts him standing, bare legged and wearing his preferred style of clothing – a loincloth and shawl. Phillip Jackson said he was inspired by photographs of the civil rights leader outside 10 Downing Street, where he met the then prime minister Ramsay MacDonald on a visit in 1931. The sculpture stands among many defenders of the British Empire, including Churchill, who opposed Indian independence, and once called Gandhi 'a seditious Middle Temple lawyer'. 'The Telegraph of Kolkata' noted that the fact that Gandhi stands 'alongside a slew of white men in Parliament Square is proof of how much England itself has moved away from Winston Churchill's views on racism and imperialism.
Title
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948)
Date
2015
Medium
bronze
Measurements
H 270 x W (?) x D (?) cm;
Plinth: H 40 x W (?) x D (?) cm (E)
Accession number
SW1P_II_S012
Acquisition method
commissioned by the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust
Work type
Statue
Owner
Westminster City Council
Custodian
Westminster City Council
Work status
extant
Unveiling date
14th March 2015
Access
at all times
Signature/marks description
on the side of the base: Jackson / Morris / Singer / FOUNDERS
Inscription description
on the front of the pedestal: MAHATMA GANDHI