Guyanese British artist Hew Locke examines British Imperial power through a personal and emotive exploration of The British Museum collection. The accompanying exhibition, Hew Locke: What Have We Here? opened at the British Museum on 17 October 2024.
“I’ve always been interested in the ways objects are interpreted through display in museums. What story has been distilled? How does it relate to the present? How can this telling be questioned, disrupted, or complicated?”
The British Museum’s history is closely linked with that of Empire. Hew Locke: what have we here? is a response to these enmeshed histories by artist Hew Locke, whose work addresses questions of sovereignty, power and nationhood. Focusing on Britain’s historical interactions with Africa, India, and the Caribbean, all of which had a significant impact on Guyana where Locke grew up, this handsomely illustrated new book features over 150 objects from the Museum’s collection including seals, coats of arms, crowns, archival photographs and drawings alongside Locke’s own work and personal items such as his OBE medal.
Instead of a traditional linear narrative, Lockefosters imaginative groupings and juxtapositions of disparate objects, examining histories of Empire and its afterlives from the artist’s perspective.
Featuring a chapter of exclusive dialogue between Hew Locke and his partner and Studio Curator, Indra Khanna, as well as behind the scenes photography of exhibition preparation, this vibrant and accessible publication allows the reader unprecedented access to the artist’s process.
Weaving together conversations about the legacy of imperialism and the role of museums, this book places historical objects in dialogue with Locke’s mixed-media artworks, including the new sculptural commission The Watchers.
About he Author
Hew Locke OBE RA is a leading contemporary artist and sculptor. Born in Edinburgh in 1959, he grew up in Guyana, returning to the UK and completing his BA in 1988 at Falmouth School of Art and an MA in sculpture in 1994 at the Royal College of Art. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 2022 and awarded an OBE for services to art in 2023.
Isabel Seligman is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawing at the British Museum, and Lead Curator of the exhibition Hew Locke: what have we here? at the British Museum in October 2024.
Indra Khanna is an artist, author and Studio Curator for Hew Locke, and Contributing Curator of the exhibition Hew Locke: what have we here?
Billie Duch Giménez is Project Curator of the exhibition Hew Locke: what have we here? at the British Museum.
The Exhibition
Hew Locke: what have we here? is an exhibition created by Hew Locke and the British Museum, with the assistance of Indra Khanna. The exhibition will run from 17 October 2024 to 9 February 2025 in The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery at the British Museum.
The display of The Watchers in the Enlightenment Gallery (Room 1) will be open from 9 October 2024 to 9 February 2025 and is free to view.
About The British Museum Press
The British Museum Press publishes award-winning illustrated books for general readers, families, academics, and students. Inspired by the famous collections of the British Museum, our titles range across the fine and decorative arts, history, archaeology, and world cultures.
Published to accompany the British Museum’s innovative exhibition programme, to celebrate key areas of the collection, and to tell the stories of some of its amazing objects, our books shed light on new discoveries of global interest and provide fresh insights into well-known objects and periods of history. Beautifully produced and written by experts in their fields, our titles are sold throughout the world in many languages with all profits going to support the work of the British Museum.
The British Museum Press is a division of the British Museum Company Ltd, a company and a charity wholly owned by the Trustees of the British Museum.
Where to buy
For individual customer orders please visit the British Museum online shop.
