The “Lady in Blue”, statue of a black woman who celebrates the “Londonian”, soon to be exhibited in Trafalgar Square

“She is not an idol to worship nor a historical figure to remember.” The Lady in Blue, a work by British artist Tschabalala Self, represents the “London who is taking great strides towards our collective future with ambition and determination”.

Friday, London City Hall announced that the black woman dressed in blue will adorn from 2026 and for eighteen months the “fourth Plinth”, the pedestal of Trafalgar Square on which contemporary artists chosen by the municipality have been exhibiting their work since 1999.

Before the Lady in Blue, the fourth base will honor “Improntas” (“Footprints”) by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, which will be installed from September 2024 and represents 850 faces of transgender people. After the Lady in Blue, the fourth base will give a spotlight to “Untitled” by the artist Andra Ursuta. A person on a horse covered in a shroud. The whole thing is cast in green resin.

In previous years, Londoners have also had the chance to admire a replica of Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory encased in a bottle and a swirl of whipped cream, topped with a sculpted cherry, a fly and a drone. Her name ? “The end.”