Art, design & empire

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• published: 15 Nov 2010
• views: 2855

David Dabydeen: ' What could be more British than a nice cup of tea? Fish and Chips? The Union Jack? Icons of British culture. But look a little closer and you' ll see that none of them are originally British at all. Tea was first imported from China in the 16th century. The potato found its way to British kitchens all the way from the Americas. And in the 17th century cotton fabric came to Britain from India. All these things came to Britain courtesy of global trade. And controlling this trade was one of the main motivations behind the expansion of the British Empire. By developing global influence and building an empire, Britain could exploit natural resources and native labour. It could also secure important markets for British goods. As people and products travelled between Britain and its colonies, the Empire became a catalyst for extraordinary cultural exchange. The influence of Empire on British life really began in the 17th century. Two hundred years later, in 1876, this memorial to Prince Albert was unveiled. That same year Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. By now, Britain had colonised territories in Europe, Africa, Asia America and Australasia. Empire was seen as essential to national prosperity. It had become an important part of British identity and touched the lives of people of all social classes. Evidence of Empire could be seen on the streets of British towns and cities. It changed the food people ate, the clothes they wore, the objects they desired and collected, and it changed the way they furnished their homes. This influx of design ideas, raw materials and products had a profound effect on 19th-century art and design. This film shows how three contemporary artists respond to the legacy of empire - in terms of their own work and how they view historic objects.' Lubaina Himid (artist): ' Although this room does look very British, the hidden histories of the Empire are all over the room. There' s the West African mahogany, chintz fabric on sofas, the rug is Persian, the piano is most likely Australian blackwood and the keys African ivory. You know it kind of has this light airy Tuesday afternoon feel to it what you' ve got is sort of the whole world cluttered in the room. The octagonal table in the watercolour was much more an ornament in the room, whereas, I think in its proper setting it was much more of a functional object. I think people chose those objects because they wanted to feel sophisticated and worldly. Most of my work stems from either my own experience having been born in Zanzibar but having most of my life been spent here in Britain. And then the other bit of the influences on my work are that kind of fantastically aggressive act of taking a people from a continent and making slaves of them. All this kind of aggressive behaviour is then kind of transformed suddenly into let' s embrace everything, let' s kind of colonise it and take it in and take it into our front room. Instead of having you know slave servants about the place we' ll have a lovely piece of fabric or we' ll have a delicate table, so we' ve kind of then kind of brought it all in, colonised it, owned it and kind of made it British.' David Dabydeen: ' An important function of Empire was securing the supply of raw materials and in the 19th century mining became very big business. New sources of metals and gemstones were exploited with little regard for the human and environmental consequences. Gold was found in Australia and Canada, and the discovery of diamonds in South Africa spurred Britain' s expansion in the region. All these places provided British jewellery designers with an abundance of raw materials, whilst other parts of the Empire also provided design ideas.' Jane Adam (designer): ' I love the fact that this Mughal ring has this beautiful decorated inside that nobody but the wearer would actually see and know about, and I use that kind of idea in my own work I hide gold, I hide pearls, the inside is always as beautiful as the outside even though it will never be seen. I feel that talks a kind of preciousness and value and an intimacy which is very important to a jeweller because of the relationship that a piece of jewellery has with its wearer. When I first saw this enamel necklace, I was absolutely staggered, I' d expected something at least three times the size. It was made in response to a historical piece - the taste in Victorian Britain wasn' t for contemporary Indian jewellery, they were interested in the artefacts of a different age. This Mughal thumb ring was made in the 18th century and the neck piece dates from a century later and was made in Britain. The design is derived directly from Mughal design and if you look at the inside of this ring you can see how that design has been taken and translated directly into these ogee pendants, which I think work absolutely beautifully on this neck piece. The Seringapatam set of jewels is very interesting because it sh

Art, design & empire

• Report rights infringement
• published: 15 Nov 2010
• views: 2855

David Dabydeen: ' What could be more British than a nice cup of tea? Fish and Chips? The Union Jack? Icons of British culture. But look a little closer and you' ll see that none of them are originally British at all. Tea was first imported from China in the 16th century. The potato found its way to British kitchens all the way from the Americas. And in the 17th century cotton fabric came to Britain from India. All these things came to Britain courtesy of global trade. And controlling this trade was one of the main motivations behind the expansion of the British Empire. By developing global influence and building an empire, Britain could exploit natural resources and native labour. It could also secure important markets for British goods. As people and products travelled between Britain and its colonies, the Empire became a catalyst for extraordinary cultural exchange. The influence of Empire on British life really began in the 17th century. Two hundred years later, in 1876, this memorial to Prince Albert was unveiled. That same year Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. By now, Britain had colonised territories in Europe, Africa, Asia America and Australasia. Empire was seen as essential to national prosperity. It had become an important part of British identity and touched the lives of people of all social classes. Evidence of Empire could be seen on the streets of British towns and cities. It changed the food people ate, the clothes they wore, the objects they desired and collected, and it changed the way they furnished their homes. This influx of design ideas, raw materials and products had a profound effect on 19th-century art and design. This film shows how three contemporary artists respond to the legacy of empire - in terms of their own work and how they view historic objects.' Lubaina Himid (artist): ' Although this room does look very British, the hidden histories of the Empire are all over the room. There' s the West African mahogany, chintz fabric on sofas, the rug is Persian, the piano is most likely Australian blackwood and the keys African ivory. You know it kind of has this light airy Tuesday afternoon feel to it what you' ve got is sort of the whole world cluttered in the room. The octagonal table in the watercolour was much more an ornament in the room, whereas, I think in its proper setting it was much more of a functional object. I think people chose those objects because they wanted to feel sophisticated and worldly. Most of my work stems from either my own experience having been born in Zanzibar but having most of my life been spent here in Britain. And then the other bit of the influences on my work are that kind of fantastically aggressive act of taking a people from a continent and making slaves of them. All this kind of aggressive behaviour is then kind of transformed suddenly into let' s embrace everything, let' s kind of colonise it and take it in and take it into our front room. Instead of having you know slave servants about the place we' ll have a lovely piece of fabric or we' ll have a delicate table, so we' ve kind of then kind of brought it all in, colonised it, owned it and kind of made it British.' David Dabydeen: ' An important function of Empire was securing the supply of raw materials and in the 19th century mining became very big business. New sources of metals and gemstones were exploited with little regard for the human and environmental consequences. Gold was found in Australia and Canada, and the discovery of diamonds in South Africa spurred Britain' s expansion in the region. All these places provided British jewellery designers with an abundance of raw materials, whilst other parts of the Empire also provided design ideas.' Jane Adam (designer): ' I love the fact that this Mughal ring has this beautiful decorated inside that nobody but the wearer would actually see and know about, and I use that kind of idea in my own work I hide gold, I hide pearls, the inside is always as beautiful as the outside even though it will never be seen. I feel that talks a kind of preciousness and value and an intimacy which is very important to a jeweller because of the relationship that a piece of jewellery has with its wearer. When I first saw this enamel necklace, I was absolutely staggered, I' d expected something at least three times the size. It was made in response to a historical piece - the taste in Victorian Britain wasn' t for contemporary Indian jewellery, they were interested in the artefacts of a different age. This Mughal thumb ring was made in the 18th century and the neck piece dates from a century later and was made in Britain. The design is derived directly from Mughal design and if you look at the inside of this ring you can see how that design has been taken and translated directly into these ogee pendants, which I think work absolutely beautifully on this neck piece. The Seringapatam set of jewels is very interesting because it sh