Lights out for Plymouth's 'No New Worlds' art installation

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The art project has been on the Mountbatten Breakwater for three months. Credit: The art project has been on the Mountbatten Breakwater for three months.

The lights have been turned off on Plymouth's 'No New Worlds' installation.

The 'Speedwell' project is part of the city's Mayflower 400 commemorations, and coincided with a global 'Day of Mourning' for Indigenous People around the world.

The work was designed to reflect on the issues raised by the journey of the Mayflower from Plymouth to America 400 years ago.

The project was designed to highlight the true story of the Mayflower. Credit: ITV News

Artist Laura Hopes, from Still/Moving, said: "We've had some healthy criticism. It's been provoking so many conversations from the minute we started putting the first scaffolding in place, people have been asking what it's all about."

Leonie Hampton added: "There's so much we can learn from these pivotal journeys and it's our responsibility to look to what happened in history to change our behaviour as humans and how we treat each other."

On 26 November, millions of Americans celebrated thanksgiving - but it was also the national day of mourning for indigenous people.

Back in 1970 on the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing, the Wampanoag people felt marginalised and ignored. A speech by Wampanoag leader Frank James was censored, which led to the first national day of mourning.

The scaffolding will be dismantled next week. Credit: ITV News

Charles Hackett, the man in charge of Plymouth's celebrations of the 400th anniversary, which will roll into 2021 due to the pandemic, says this time the native people's story will be heard.

He said: "Mayflower 400 is determined to approach this history and this commemoration very differently. We've been working with Native American leaders, artists, historians, to create a programme that really honestly addresses colonial history."


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