Entangled Pasts, 1768–now
Art, Colonialism and Change
Sarah Lea author Dorothy Price author Cora Gilroy-Ware author Esther Chadwick author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Royal Academy of Arts
Published:25th Jan '24
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"It is the frankest assessment by a British institution of its own colonial history. The academy’s president, Rebecca Salter, called it a “historically and structurally white, Eurocentric institution, where much-needed change towards decolonial praxis has only recently begun”." — The Times
Informed by ongoing research, this handsome exhibition catalogue published to accompany Entangled Pasts, 1768-now at the Royal Academy 3 February - 28 April 2024, features the work of artists connected with the Academy in an exploration of migration, exchange, artistic traditions, identity and belonging. Contemporary and historic works are brought together as part of a conversation about art and its role in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement, resistance, abolition and colonialism, and how it may help set a course for the future. The life-size painted cut-out figures of Lubaina Himid’s installation Naming the Money; Hew Locke’s Armada, a flotilla of ‘votive boats’ recalling different periods and places; powerful paintings, photographs, films, sculptures, drawings and prints by Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling, John Akomfrah, Isaac Julien, El Anatsui, Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, Shahzia Sikander, Mohini Chandra and Betye Saar; and historical works by artists such as Joshua Reynolds, J. M. W. Turner and John Singleton Copley create connections across time that examine questions of power, representation and history.
"A collection of essays and biographies takes an innovative approach to exploring the RA’s role in creating a canon of art founded in empire and enslavement." - The Art Newspaper
"In this beautifully assembled but well-mannered show, gret (white) British artists such as Joshua Reynolds and JMW Turner are displayed alongside contemporary stars from Sonia Boyce to Yinka Shonibare as the RA interrogates its institutional links to colonialism." - Independent
"Frank Bowling's abstract painting Middle Passage (1970) is simultaneously spectacular and anguished, a vast, red-and-gold view of the inferno. Hew Locke's Armada (2017-19), a motley flotilla of tattered model boats suspended from the ceiling, appears like a ghost-fleet passing silent through a melancholic waking dream." - Telegraph
"According to the new show Entangled Pasts, Britain’s artistic history is linked to slavery and colonialism, and the RA has used the exhibit to acknowledge its own colonial history." - Telegraph
"It is the frankest assessment by a British institution of its own colonial history. The academy’s president, Rebecca Salter, called it a “historically and structurally white, Eurocentric institution, where much-needed change towards decolonial praxis has only recently begun”." - The Times
"The Royal Academy's Entangled Pasts, 1768-Now: Art, Colonialism and Change has some wonderful works…" - The Times Online
ISBN: 9781912520992
Dimensions: 280mm x 230mm x 21mm
Weight: 1258g
208 pages