Renowned Jamaican sculptor Basil Watson has copped the 2023 Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA) Marsh Award for the most popular new sculpture for his National Windrush Monument erected in Waterloo Station, London.

Watson’s National Windrush Monument, which commemorates the Windrush Generation who boarded the HMT Empire Windrush in 1948 for the United Kingdom, went up against several shortlisted sculptures such as Denise Dutton’s Mary Anning, John McKenna’s The Riveters – Port Glosglow Shipbuilders, Thomas J. Price’s Warm Shores, among others.

According to the PSSA’s website, the sculptures are judged based on the criteria of concept, realisation, impact on the discipline, reception and engagement, and wider benefits.

“The National Windrush Monument has been my personal Empire Windrush voyage, literally and figuratively transporting me along a journey through my past, present and into the future. It has opened insights into my past that were seemingly meaningless dots within my history, and connected them with my present experiences and is propelling me into a future that has a new perspective and appreciation of who I am.”

Continuing, Watson said: “My parents were early Windrush generation pioneers, meeting on the ship to London in about 1952, spending a decade in the pursuit of betterment then returning to a newly independent Jamaica in 1962. My father would say that he is a ‘ship with a set rudder’ and this monument has helped me to plot the course he and others traversed as they embarked on a mission of self-advancement, while rebuilding a Britain that they somewhat regarded as their motherland, and you recognise the challenges they faced.

Decked in their special attire, along with their bulging suitcases, it clearly demonstrates that this was a special journey and a seismic moment in history. This monument means so much to so many and it has been a great honour to have been challenged with the responsibility of creating it, and now this recognition by the PSSA is further gratification that carries the journey over the top,” Watson said in a statement on the PSSA’s website.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to congratulate Watson on copping the award.

“Huge congratulations to Basil Watson on winning PSSA Marsh Award for Public Sculpture in the UK by popular vote! So pleased that this beautiful and evocative Windrush monument was given this widespread appreciation,” she said.