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This rebellious streak was cemented by the toppling of Colston's statue at the height of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, a moment that led many institutions and businesses to sever their associations with Colston's name. With M-Shed also hosting a permanent exhibition that explores the city's role in the transatlantic slave trade, Bristol's past is becoming more transparent.

Inevitably, though, the toppling of statues and renaming of Bristol institutions came up against fierce opposition. Conservative politicians like the Home Secretary Priti Patel described the changes in Bristol as "utterly disgraceful", while many right-wing news outlets alleged that Colston was being erased from Bristols history or said that we shouldn't judge historical characters on modern morals.

"When the music hall was renamed and when the statue was pulled down, it did more to confront this subject than ever before," said Collin, who believes it's a disservice to the abolitionists of the day to say that British society didn't know the slave trade was immoral. "Far from erasing history, it's done the exact opposite," he added. "It was the Victorians who erased history, and the lives of the enslaved Africans who were erased."

The bare plinth speaks louder than Colston's statue ever did, but Wilson explained how M-Shed met differing views when deciding what to do with the fallen effigy of the slave trader and philanthropist. Should it be left in the harbour, re-raised or placed in a museum, they asked the Bristolian public.

"It was eventually decided that the statue would be kept in this condition, with the graffiti preserved, so we have its historical context. It only happened two years ago, but it's already part of our history," said Wilson, as I took one last look at Colston's graffitied statue in M-Shed. "Honestly, it's the most interesting thing that's ever happened to this statue."

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The English city facing up to its troubled past - BBC