Artist  |  Writer  |  Tutor  |  Publisher

Artefacts and Lost Generations

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What is our relationship with artefacts from cultures and lost generations of another time and place? 

How can we relate to and experience narratives through the artefact?

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How much of its history and context is shaped by the biases and prejudices of those who collected these objects and educated their social class a point-of-view; one formed by conquerors of Nations?

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How much do we know about true history of objects seen in our museums that have been possibly stolen, traded and swapped? 

Many occurances in the past has seen the stealing and destruction of another culture's cultural and historical wealth, due to not accepting alleged prejudiced treaties, leading to many items being housed in museums abroad, as seen with The Kingdom of Benin (Nigeria)[1] and The Galway Treaty of 1892[2].

How often do we critically question the rightful ownership of artefacts and points-of-view serving a particular narrative?[3]

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How many of us are aware of the many injustices that happened in the past? Whitewashed due to the nature of slavery and indentured servitude and obscured economic contributions made in the name of Empire.

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Of those who sought riches at the expense of the poor, the dispossessed and alleged convicts sent to America and then to Australia?[4]

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Artefacts from a Lost Generation explores these relationships with history and how we view 'objects' from an unfamiliar time and those dialogues resulting from our individual and collective sensibilities linked to our ancestral past. 

Adam is drawn to how artefacts and collected objects can shift contemporary narratives and how societies choose to view themselves and their relationship to the past, especially when presented with new information highlighting previously unknown histories that shines through the cracks of cultural bias and the influence of non-European art and craft that led to the development of Modernism, in itself personally seen as a form of cultural appropriation - uncredited.

How do we make amends to those whose culture was stolen, destroyed, hidden, forgotten or appropriated?

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‘‘Official’ historical Art is easy to find, was created and retained by the higher stratum of any particular society, created to show their class in the best light and to reflect society as they saw it... Other items created by the lower classes […] intentionally or by accident [...] either challenge or confirm the truthfulness and accuracy of known accounts.’

B. Grose, June 2018.

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References

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Benin

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[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Expedition_of_1897

'Most of the Benin bronzes sold at auction were purchased by museums, mainly in Germany. The dispersal of the Benin art to museums around the world catalysed the beginnings of a long and slow European reassessment of the value of West African art. The Benin art was copied and the style integrated into the art of many European artists and thus had a strong influence on the early formation of modernism in Europe'.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okukor> 

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[3] BBC News.<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35762834>

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[4] Jordan, Don & Walsh, Michael, 'White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America', (Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd., Edinburgh: 2007)

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Further References

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• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Benin

• https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/slave-trade.html

• http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-transatlantic-slave-trade-records/

• http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art47500

• https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/TheSlaveTrade_Presentation.pdf

• https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/empire-through-lens/

Recommended Reading

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Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave, (Penquin: New York, 2012)

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Don Jordon & Michael Walsh, White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America, (Mainstream Publishing Ltd.: Edinburgh, 2007)

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Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440 - 1870, (Picador: New York, 1997)

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Graham Hancock, Magician of the Gods, (Coronet: London, 2016)

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Grayson Perry, Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman, (The British Museum Press: London, 2011)

In sea-cold Lyonesse,

When the Sabbath eve shafts down,

On the roofs, walls, belfries
Of the foundered town,

The Nereids pluck their lyres
Where the green translucency beats,
And with motionless eyes at gaze
Make ministrely in the streets.
And the ocean water stirs
In salt-worn casement and porch
Plies the blunt-nosed fish
With fire in his skull for torch.
And the ringing wires resound;
And the unearthly lovely weep,
In lament of the music they make
In the sullen courts of sleep:
Whose marble flowers bloom for aye:
And - lapped by the moon-guiled tide
Mock their carver with heart of stone,
Caged in his stone-ribbed side.

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Walter de la Mare

Nigerian Sculpture from Benin | M Shed Bristol.