In a bold and unusual move, a decapitated statue head of King George V made a surprise appearance at a concert by Belfast-based hip-hop group Kneecap.
The statue’s head, once part of the King’s Domain statue in Melbourne, was infamously beheaded in June 2024, coinciding with a public holiday celebrating the British monarch’s birthday.
Despite efforts by Australian police to locate the head, it resurfaced at the group’s Melbourne show on Friday night, much to the crowd’s astonishment.
The Statue’s Unexpected Cameo
The moment was shared on social media by Kneecap, who described it as a wild surprise.
“Some madman dropped by with a huge King George’s head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show,” the group posted online.
The message humorously referenced the statue’s beheading, which had happened a year earlier, and ended with a nod to anti-colonial sentiments: “Remember, every colony can fall.”
Kneecap, known for their unapologetic anti-colonial hip-hop style, didn’t hold back when it came to this controversial prop.
The statue head was briefly displayed on stage before being quickly whisked away, adding to the rebellious energy that the band is known for.
This event fits with the group’s ongoing political stance and creative defiance.
A History of Anti-Colonial Defiance
Kneecap’s actions and music have often challenged British colonialism, and the appearance of the King George V statue head is just the latest in a series of provocative acts.
The trio—Mo Chara, JJ O’Dochartaigh, and Moglai Bap—made headlines in 2024 when they won a legal battle against UK politician Kemi Badenoch, who had blocked a grant for the band, citing their anti-British political views.
The court ruled that the denial of £14,250 in funding was unlawful, and the Labour government later agreed to release the funds.
The Statue’s Controversial Beheading
The beheading of the King George V statue was captured on video in June 2024, which went viral on social media.
The footage, overlaid with the Sex Pistols’ song God Save The Queen, featured an individual scrawling “the colony will fall” at the statue’s foot.
The act, combined with the song and its provocative message, made a clear statement against British colonialism.
Melbourne City Council estimated that cleaning and restoring the statue would cost around $10,000, a significant sum to address the vandalism.
The Growing Anti-Colonial Sentiment in Australia
The beheading of King George V’s statue is part of a broader trend of anti-colonial vandalism in Australia.
Just the month before, a group attempted to destroy a statue of Captain James Cook, the British explorer who mapped Australia’s east coast.
While Cook is celebrated as a hero in Britain, many in Australia view him as a symbol of the violence and oppression faced by Indigenous populations following British colonization.
The group targeted Captain Cook’s statue in Melbourne, trying to remove its head with an angle grinder.
However, they were deterred when security intervened, and the trio fled the scene.
This incident was just one of several, including another attack on a Captain Cook statue in Sydney, where the figure was splashed with red paint and had its nose and hand damaged.
The Ongoing Debate on Colonial Monuments
The recent vandalism of colonial statues has sparked a wider debate in Australia over the legacy of British colonialism.
Statues of figures like Cook and Queen Victoria have been targeted in the past, often painted with red to symbolize the bloodshed caused by colonial rule.
These acts of defiance reflect a growing push to reassess how the country deals with its colonial past and the symbolic representation of figures who played a role in the oppression of Indigenous peoples.
As these protests and acts of defiance continue, the debate over the fate of colonial monuments in Australia shows no signs of slowing down.
The police have yet to comment on the King George V statue incident, but the country’s attitude towards these historical symbols is clearly shifting.