Artist Hew Locke explores empire at British Museum

An exhibition created by artist Hew Locke exploring Britain’s colonial history opened at the British Museum today (17 October).

Locke, who was born in Edinburgh in 1959 and then lived in Guyana from 14 years before returning to the UK, has spent two years on the project, working with his partner and studio curator Indra Khanna.

The exhibition, Hew Locke: What Have We Here? features more than 150 objects. The majority are from the British Museum, while there are also items from Royal Collection Trust, the British Library, the National Trust and the Imperial War Museum. The exhibition includes Locke’s own work, and personal items such as his OBE medal.

The exhibition has four themes: Sovereigns and Icons of Nationhood; Trade; Conflict; and Treasure.

Speaking at the launch of the exhibition, Locke said: “About two years ago, there was an email hinting about having a conversation about a show. And I'm like, this is great, but how serious are these guys?”

Locke said to the British Museum that the exhibition would have to talk about “loot and stuff”.

“I worked with my partner, Indra Khanna, who was an assistant curator on this project and we came in and had many, many visits down into the vaults, the secret vaults,” Locke said.

“And then the museum went through a number of tribulations, shall we say, during the two-year period. But it was exciting, going behind the scenes and finding all these odd stories, and curators and heads of department coming and saying: 'Do you know about this?'”

Locke has been a regular visitor to the British Museum over the past 40 years. His work is represented in many collections including the Government Art Collection, Tate, National Trust, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, the New Art Gallery Walsall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Imperial War Museum, and the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds.

British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan said: “There's a long and very important history within the British Museum of artists engaging with this collection. You could think back to Rodin in the 19th century, to Henry Moore in the 20th century, and much more recently to artists such as Grayson Perry, Edmund De Vaal and Maggie Hambling, among others, and now, of course, Locke. 

“But this exhibition is also an important first for us in casting a more critical eye over our objects with complex histories in our collection and asking important questions about them and to all of us.”

Hew Locke: What Have We Here? is at the British Museum until 9 February 2025