Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism
The article addresses the work of British artist and Guyana-raised Hew Locke, between 2007 and 2014. It aims to examine how this work participates in the construction of a cultural memory to make visible, through projects imagined for British imperial monuments, memorial policies that consider the h...
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Language: | Anglais |
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Angles
2025
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| Online Access: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_8850 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Anglais |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
photography diaspora Hew Locke sculpture Bristol imperial history |
| spellingShingle |
photography diaspora Hew Locke sculpture Bristol imperial history Schütz, Marine Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| description |
The article addresses the work of British artist and Guyana-raised Hew Locke, between 2007 and 2014. It aims to examine how this work participates in the construction of a cultural memory to make visible, through projects imagined for British imperial monuments, memorial policies that consider the history of diasporas in Great Britain. To do this, the study draws on the analyses of Kobena Mercer, who has reassessed the transnational dimension of Caribbean art in London by revising the art historical habitus of assigning a work to a single place. This allows us to understand the artist’s links to the carnival, within a broader spatial network, including Georgetown, Brixton and London. Caribbean memory in Hew Locke’s art is approached to elucidate, through the analysis of primary sources (the published interviews of the artist), how he came to engage with these different carnivals. Then, the study focuses on the transnational migration of aesthetic elements, such as color and gesture, what Hew Locke calls the “Guyanese palette” to reveal his visibility strategy and address its status within modernism. The study of the reception of his work by the artistic press completes the approach by revealing the difficulty he had, as a Caribbean artist, to enter Britain’s artistic and national space. It completes the analysis of the artist’s relationship to institutions (press, modernism and museum) by describing the artist’s project at the Turbine Hall of the Tate in London, which he addressed not only to imagine a contemporary carnival, but also to draw attention to the discrimination experienced by the Black population of Notting Hill. Finally, the article focuses the reflection on the transnational dimension of this work conceived as a memorialisation and a reconstruction of the Caribbean carnival in London. It proposes reading the work, ultimately, as a paradigmatic artistic expression of the diasporic cultures of the Black Atlantic. |
| author |
Schütz, Marine |
| author_facet |
Schütz, Marine |
| author_sort |
Schütz, Marine |
| title |
Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| title_short |
Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| title_full |
Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| title_fullStr |
Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism |
| title_sort |
caribbean memory as “mindful” vandalism |
| publisher |
Angles |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/13ofx https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/angles/8850 |
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1877292090965098496 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:angles_8850 https://doi.org/10.4000/13ofx urn:doi:10.4000/13ofx en https://journals.openedition.org/angles/8850 2025-04-03T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/13ofx https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Caribbean Memory as “Mindful” Vandalism Angles Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2274-2042 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/angles Schütz, Marine photography diaspora Hew Locke sculpture Bristol imperial history The article addresses the work of British artist and Guyana-raised Hew Locke, between 2007 and 2014. It aims to examine how this work participates in the construction of a cultural memory to make visible, through projects imagined for British imperial monuments, memorial policies that consider the history of diasporas in Great Britain. To do this, the study draws on the analyses of Kobena Mercer, who has reassessed the transnational dimension of Caribbean art in London by revising the art historical habitus of assigning a work to a single place. This allows us to understand the artist’s links to the carnival, within a broader spatial network, including Georgetown, Brixton and London. Caribbean memory in Hew Locke’s art is approached to elucidate, through the analysis of primary sources (the published interviews of the artist), how he came to engage with these different carnivals. Then, the study focuses on the transnational migration of aesthetic elements, such as color and gesture, what Hew Locke calls the “Guyanese palette” to reveal his visibility strategy and address its status within modernism. The study of the reception of his work by the artistic press completes the approach by revealing the difficulty he had, as a Caribbean artist, to enter Britain’s artistic and national space. It completes the analysis of the artist’s relationship to institutions (press, modernism and museum) by describing the artist’s project at the Turbine Hall of the Tate in London, which he addressed not only to imagine a contemporary carnival, but also to draw attention to the discrimination experienced by the Black population of Notting Hill. Finally, the article focuses the reflection on the transnational dimension of this work conceived as a memorialisation and a reconstruction of the Caribbean carnival in London. It proposes reading the work, ultimately, as a paradigmatic artistic expression of the diasporic cultures of the Black Atlantic. L’article aborde l’œuvre de l’artiste britannique et élevé au Guyana Hew Locke, entre 2007 et 2014. Il vise à examiner la façon dont son œuvre participe de la construction d’une mémoire culturelle à visibiliser, par le biais de projets imaginés pour sur des monuments impériaux britanniques, des politiques mémorielles qui tiennent compte de l’histoire des diasporas en Grande-Bretagne.Pour ce faire, l’étude s’appuie sur les analyses de Kobena Mercer qui ont réévalué la dimension transnationale de l’art caribéen à Londres en révisant l’habitus en histoire de l’art, consistant à assigner une œuvre à un seul lieu. Cela nous permet d’appréhender les liens de l’artiste au carnaval, au sein d’un réseau spatial élargi, incluant Georgetown, Brixton et Londres.La place de la mémoire caribéenne dans l’art de Hew Locke est abordée de manière à élucider, par l’analyse des sources primaires (entretiens de l’artiste), son rapport à ces différents carnavals. Mais elle permet aussi de comprendre comment l’artiste en vient à pratiquer la forme de migration transnationale d’éléments esthétiques, comme la couleur et le geste, ce que Hew Locke appelle la « palette guyanaise », pour mettre au jour sa stratégie de visibilité.L’étude de la réception de son œuvre par la presse généraliste complète l’approche en révélant la difficulté d’intégration des artistes caribéens dans l’espace artistique britannique. Elle complète l’analyse du rapport de l’artiste aux institutions (presse, modernisme et musée) par la description du projet de l’artiste au Turbine Hall de la Tate de Londres, lequel fut pensé comme un carnaval contemporain, attirant l’attention sur la discrimination que connaissait la population noire de Notting Hill. Enfin, l’article concentre la réflexion sur la dimension transnationale de ce travail conçu comme une mise en mémoire et une reconstruction du carnaval caribéen à Londres, pour lire l’œuvre, en définitive, comme une expression artistique paradigmatique de la culture diasporique de l’Atlantique noir. |