A decapitated statue head of King George V made a guest appearance at a gig by Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap.
The King’s Domain statue was beheaded and covered in red paint in June to coincide with the annual public holiday celebrating the monarch’s birthday.
Australian police were unable to track down the bronze head but it was sighted at Kneecap’s Melbourne performance at on Friday night.
‘Some madman dropped by with a huge King George’s head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show,’ read a social media post from the Northern Irish outfit.
‘Allegedly his head was cut off last year in the city. Anyways he was put on stage for a few tunes and then whisked away. Remember every colony can fall.’
Kneecap, comprised of Mo Chara, JJ O’Dochartaigh and Moglai Bap, are known for their unapologetic brand of anti-colonial hip-hop.
In November, 2024, the trio won their case against Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch after she blocked an arts grant to the band citing anti-British politics.
The refusal of £14,250 in funding was found to be ‘unlawful’ and the new Labour government agreed to release the money and pay Kneecap’s costs.
The decapitated statue head of King George V made a cameo on stage for Irish rap band Kneecap’s performance
The King George statue in Melbourne was beheaded last year
A video of the statue beheading posted to social media in June was overlaid with the Sex Pistol’s song God Save The Queen and showed another person writing ‘the colony will fall’ at the statue’s foot.
Melbourne City council estimated it would cost about $10,000 to clean the statue and even more to restore it.
It comes amid a spate of anti-colonial vandalism in Australia.
A group tried to strike a statue of Captain James Cook, a British explorer known for mapping the east coast of Australia, last month but were deterred.
Cook has been hailed as a British hero of discovery.
Mo Chara, JJ O’Dochartaigh and Moglai Bap (left to right) at the IFTA Awards in February
But he is also a symbol of British colonialism in the region and the subsequent oppression of Indigenous populations in Australia and New Zealand, with whom he had violent interactions.
Three people arrived at Captain Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne and spray-painted the building.
The trio tried to use an angle grinder to cut off the statue’s head but left abruptly after security notified them they were being recorded.
The statue had been reinstalled two weeks earlier after it was targeted in 2024 on the same day a statue of Queen Victoria near the city was covered in graffiti and red paint, symbolising blood spilled by the monarchy.
Another statue of Captain Cook in Sydney was splashed with red paint and had its hand and nose knocked off just before Australia Day this year.
Victoria Police has been contacted for comment.
