Thomas J Price’s Warm Shores was created from composites of 30 residents connected to the Windrush generation, and shows how monuments can represent the communities they stand in

A new public sculpture commemorating the Windrush generation was unveiled in east London on Wednesday morning to smiles and curiosity. Warm Shores by Thomas J Price, a 9ft (2.75 metres) bronze of a man and a woman standing outside Hackney town tall, marks the full installation of the Hackney Windrush Art Commission, a project celebrating the contribution made by those who have immigrated to the area. “It’s not a monument, it’s a celebration,” said Price, looking on as residents began to interact with the work.

In an era where public art and monuments are politically charged like never before, surely the test of a great public artwork is in the community response. As locals passed the sculpture they reacted warmly, looking at the two figures, touching them, some asking “What does this represent? Is this for me?” Although Price’s sculpture and Basil Watson’s official national monument at Waterloo were both unveiled today to salute the generation which came from the Caribbean to the UK between 1948 and 1970, those affected by the Windrush scandal are still fighting for compensation.