Hew Locke

Together with his own artworks, contemporary artist Hew Locke uses the British Museum's collection as a springboard to explore themes of colonialism and cultural interactions. Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke (b. 1959) has chosen objects from the British Museum's collection to examine interactions between Britain and different cultures from around 1600 onwards. Presented alongside newly commissioned and existing works, Locke explores the histories and legacies of British imperialism, with a particular focus on interactions with India, Africa and the Caribbean, exploring different facets of enmeshed histories and their impact for people around the world today. Locke has often used interventionist techniques to frame and highlight objects that tell stories about shared colonial histories - for example, drawing on copies of antique share certificates, which illuminate particular histories of extraction, or altering historical busts and public statues that glorify key figures in the British Empire. Rather than seeking to condemn or celebrate Britain's imperial legacy, Locke's engagement with the Museum's collection instead highlights the ways in which it informs so many aspects of contemporary culture that are taken for granted, encouraging readers to form their own responses and questions.