I Am Queen Mary Sculpture, Copenhagen

A Monument on the Harbourfront

The "I Am Queen Mary" sculpture rises in front of the brick bulk of the Vestindisk Pakhus, the former West Indian Warehouse on Copenhagen’s inner harbour. Here, where colonial goods once arrived from the Caribbean, a seated Black woman now commands the quay, her gaze fixed outward across the water. The contrast between the historic warehouse and the contemporary monument immediately signals that this is not a conventional statue, but a deliberate intervention in the cityscape.Created by artists La Vaughn Belle from the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jeannette Ehlers from Denmark, the work is widely recognised as the first public monument in Denmark dedicated to people who were subjected to Danish colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. Its location in front of a building that managed trade from the Danish West Indies ties the artwork tightly to the history it addresses, transforming the area from a scenic waterfront into a site of memory.

Queen Mary and the Fire of Rebellion

The figure represented is Mary Thomas, known as Queen Mary, one of four women who led the 1878 labour uprising on St. Croix, then part of the Danish West Indies. The rebellion, sparked by continued harsh conditions decades after the formal abolition of slavery, saw plantations and parts of Frederiksted burned in protest. The revolt was brutally suppressed, and Mary Thomas and her comrades were imprisoned and eventually transported to Denmark.By placing Queen Mary at monumental scale in Copenhagen, the sculpture connects Caribbean resistance directly to the former imperial centre. Her pose, inspired partly by images of Black female resistance in the Caribbean, conveys strength and defiance rather than submissive commemoration. The work invites reflection on how freedom in the Danish West Indies was fought for from below, rather than simply granted from above.

Layers of Colonial Architecture

Behind the sculpture stands Vestindisk Pakhus, built in the early 1780s for the Vestindisk Kompagni, which managed and systemised trade from the West Indies, including goods produced by enslaved labour. The long, austere warehouse is one of several 18th-century brick storehouses lining the harbour, their rhythmic rows of windows and heavy timber structure speaking to an era when maritime commerce underpinned Copenhagen’s wealth.Today, the building also houses the Royal Cast Collection, with thousands of plaster casts of classical sculptures, adding another layer: European artistic ideals preserved inside a structure financed by colonial trade. The juxtaposition of antique white marble forms within, and the dark monumental body of Queen Mary outside, quietly underscores how art, power, and empire have intertwined in European cities.

Artistic Collaboration and Symbolism

The sculpture itself is rich in symbolic detail. Queen Mary sits on a base evoking coral stones and sugar cane, referencing both Caribbean landscapes and plantation economies. Her dress and posture draw on Caribbean traditions where the title "queen" was used for formidable women at the centre of social life on plantations. At the same time, her scale and presence echo European monuments to monarchs and generals, but here the honoured figure is an insurgent Black woman.Belle and Ehlers’ collaboration bridges Copenhagen and the Caribbean, linking histories often kept apart. The work grew out of broader artistic and academic conversations about decolonising memory in Denmark, challenging lingering narratives that present the country as a relatively gentle colonial power. Standing before the statue, you sense how it acts as both memorial and critique.

A Reflective Stop on the Waterfront

Visiting "I Am Queen Mary" is a compact yet intense experience. The site is open at all hours, with no ticket barriers or fixed visiting times, and the waterfront setting offers space to pause, read about the history in advance, and consider the long view across the harbour. On clear days, the light picks out the textures of the figure and the brickwork behind; in wind and rain the scene feels starker, underscoring the gravity of the story.It is easy to combine a stop here with nearby waterfront walks, museums, and government buildings housed in other converted warehouses. Yet even amid these attractions, the sculpture holds its own, inviting travellers to fold Denmark’s colonial past into their understanding of modern Copenhagen and to recognise the presence of Caribbean histories far from the islands themselves.