Bristol Cathedral Unveils Artist for Work in Response to Colston Window

Bristol Cathedral has announced that artist, Joseph Ijoyemi has been selected to create a major new permanent artwork in response to its Colston window.

Artist named for new permanent artwork in response to Bristol Cathedral’s Colston window.

The commission marks a significant step in the Cathedral’s continuing work to engage openly with its history and to reflect the diversity of the city it serves, part of its All God’s Children project.

Titled Let There Be Light, the artwork will honour the resilience, cultural richness, and contributions of African and African-Caribbean communities in Bristol, reflecting the Cathedral’s commitment to truth, justice, and remembrance.

Let There Be Light is a contemporary stained-glass work designed to transform as daylight moves through the Cathedral.

It combines abstract and figurative elements, reflecting history, resilience, and hope, and incorporates African and African-Caribbean patterns and symbols that give visibility to previously marginalised voices.

It is hoped the artwork will be displayed in a window in the north transept next to the Colston window which was originally covered up in 2020 following the toppling of his statue as part of the Black Lives Matters protests in the city, and has since been renamed with new signage reflecting Colston’s role in the slave trade.

The announcement comes following a month of public consultation on the proposals from the shortlisted artists.

Public feedback for Let There Be Light described the work as “powerful, brave, bold, unapologetic,” “poetic,”and embodying “light, joy and strength.”

Joseph Ijoyemi said,
“I am honoured to be selected and to be part of this huge project.  Working with the Cathedral, local communities and the stained glass team makes this project feel rooted. 

‘As an artist Let There Be Light brings together my faith and my practice. It is about shining light on Black history in Bristol, holding space for truth and reflection, and thinking about how we move forward with care for future generations.’

A spokesperson for the cathedral said,

‘Through Let There Be Light, Joseph brings his distinctive vision to Bristol Cathedral, merging craft, contemporary art, and social memory in a project designed to resonate for generations.’

Joseph intends to invite community input before the final artwork will be realised.

Joseph Ijoyemi is a Swedish-Nigerian artist based in London whose work explores heritage, migration, identity, and social history. A Central Saint Martins MA Fine Art graduate (2023), he has received the Helen Scott Lidgett Award, been shortlisted for the Evening Standard Prize, and exhibited in New Contemporaries 2023. His practice spans community projects, installations, sculpture, and sound art, creating immersive experiences that reimagine African and Afro-Caribbean histories.

This stained glass commission forms part of a wider programme through which the Cathedral is responding openly and responsibly to its historic connections to the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of African people.

The All God’s Children project is part of the Cathedral’s work to understand its links with the transatlantic trade of enslaved people.

Research that informed the exhibition discovered that between 1670 and 1900, roughly 1,000 people were buried or memorialised in the Cathedral and its grounds.

Around 200 (20%) of them had a close connection to the slavery-based economy.