0:00:04 > 0:00:08London in the 21st century is a metropolitan, multicultural city.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14But as a writer, I'm fascinated by the older London,
0:00:14 > 0:00:19the city that was at the heart of a grand imperial project.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21There are traces everywhere,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23even if many of us have forgotten
0:00:23 > 0:00:26what any of these names and events mean.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31For my addition of Artsnight, I want to look at how the British Empire
0:00:31 > 0:00:35transformed not only politics and economics in Britain,
0:00:35 > 0:00:37but left its lasting imprint
0:00:37 > 0:00:41on our literature, our art and our architecture.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44By looking at the British Empire through the prism of culture,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46one can actually feel what it was like
0:00:46 > 0:00:50to be part of the largest empire the world has ever known.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Tate Britain is a building with an imperial past.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04The institution was created by Henry Tate, the sugar merchant,
0:01:04 > 0:01:08who became incredibly wealthy through overseas trade.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Now, Tate Britain wants to show
0:01:13 > 0:01:16the close relationship between art and Empire...
0:01:17 > 0:01:20..drawing on works and artists from around the world
0:01:20 > 0:01:22and across five centuries.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35The idea of this exhibition
0:01:35 > 0:01:39has been something Tate curators have had in mind for many years.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43I think discussions about doing an exhibition on art and Empire...
0:01:44 > 0:01:47- ..10 years we've been discussing this?- A long time.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50But there hasn't been the confidence to go ahead with it.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53It's a problematic, controversial subject.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Also, would you be in danger of inadvertently celebrating
0:01:57 > 0:02:00or endorsing Empire, making an apology for it.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03But eventually, we ran out of excuses NOT to do it.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Let's say there's a young person coming to your exhibition.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10What would you like him or her to take away from the exhibition?
0:02:10 > 0:02:14I'd like the art to lead people to the history
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and the context in which these works were produced.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20We made a deliberate decision to actually focus on images of people.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24The subtitle is "Facing Britain's Imperial Past".
0:02:24 > 0:02:26And the idea of facing is not just confronting,
0:02:26 > 0:02:27but actually looking at people.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32I think the idea of focusing on people gives a very human dimension to this exhibition.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35It allows people of all races, cultures, backgrounds,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38to look at each other over time and history,
0:02:38 > 0:02:43with the idea of understanding where we've got to in the present day.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Each room focuses on a different aspect
0:02:49 > 0:02:51of how the Empire has influenced artists.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Some celebrating it, some condemning the imperial project.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02One of the things that really interests me
0:03:02 > 0:03:05is how the Empire was represented to people back home in Britain.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09And one of the ways was to look at a hero.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11This is one of the most important paintings,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15and it shows General Gordon just moments before his death.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19It was a very grisly end. His head was cut off and put on a spike.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24But in the moments before the death, he seems serene, almost contemptuous.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27This image was reproduced on an industrial scale
0:03:27 > 0:03:31and made Gordon into one of the heroes, a real martyr of Empire.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41The Guyanese-born artist Hew Locke
0:03:41 > 0:03:44has a very different take on these imperial heroes.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55He radically reinterprets statues of figures like Edward Colston,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57a major benefactor of the city of Bristol,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00who made much of his fortune through slavery.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04It's a statue of a reasonable man.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08He's a thinker, he's coming from the Age of Enlightenment.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11It's one of the most attractive statues in Bristol.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14And all that contradicts who the guy was.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17I mean, the man was hard-core slave dealer.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And what I've done is I've covered him in
0:04:20 > 0:04:25cowrie shells which were used as trading currency for buying slaves.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28And I've covered him in cheap jewellery,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31alluding to the kind of cheap trinkets
0:04:31 > 0:04:34that would have been used in his trade.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37There are debates - shall we take the statue down?
0:04:37 > 0:04:38Get rid of it completely?
0:04:38 > 0:04:42For me, I don't like that, I want this thing to stay there
0:04:42 > 0:04:46as some horrible reminder of Bristol's past.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Because it's interesting. If the thing is gone,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51there's nothing to have a conversation about.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57The final room of the exhibition looks at those modern artists
0:04:57 > 0:05:01who engage with the continuing legacy of Empire.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08This striking image is created
0:05:08 > 0:05:10by the Liverpool-based Singh Twins,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14who use traditional Indian painting techniques
0:05:14 > 0:05:16to reflect 21st-century subjects.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23This is an extraordinary picture.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Would you like to say a bit more about it?
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It's so busy and there's so much energy and vitality in it.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Well, the painting is inspired by two Victorian works
0:05:32 > 0:05:34which represent the Indian mutiny.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37So it really looks at that issue of what the mutiny...
0:05:37 > 0:05:40how it was projected in the Victorian era,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43but reassessing that in the light of how the Indians see
0:05:43 > 0:05:47that historical event more as a kind of rebellion for freedom
0:05:47 > 0:05:49from British domination in India at that time.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52There's a positive aspect to the whole legacy of Empire too,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55the fact that migration brought with it the influence
0:05:55 > 0:05:58of Indian culture generally on British life and culture.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01That's represented around the border with various figures
0:06:01 > 0:06:03like Monty Panesar and Victoria Beckham
0:06:03 > 0:06:06who's depicted wearing a sari, so that's obviously representing
0:06:06 > 0:06:09the influence of Indian fashion on British fashion.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13So Indians in the world of commerce and sport and media,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17music industry, fashion, they've all put their stamp on British identity.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Do you think enough people in Britain
0:06:19 > 0:06:21are engaged with Britain's imperial past?
0:06:21 > 0:06:24I think they're engaged whether they realise it or not.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27The moment they go to the local takeaway and eat Indian curry,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- that's the legacy of Empire. - That's right.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32But I think formally, no, I don't think something, for example,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35that's necessarily taught at the school level.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And I think it's an important aspect that should be taught in schools
0:06:38 > 0:06:40because that period of imperial history,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42particularly the link between India and Britain,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44is something that connects us all
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and I think it helps cultures to understand one another
0:06:47 > 0:06:50if you understand what those shared roots and heritages are.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00The history of the British Empire is much too often left to textbooks.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04But by looking at Empire through the eyes of artists,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07this exhibition brings to life forgotten events
0:07:07 > 0:07:10in a powerful and haunting manner.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20The Tate Gallery was founded at the height of Britain's imperial power.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24But this stretch of the River Thames
0:07:24 > 0:07:27marks another, darker legacy of Empire.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30On this site, until the mid-19th century,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32stood the infamous Millbank prison
0:07:32 > 0:07:35from which thousands of convicts were sent to Australia.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39I went to meet Peter Carey, the novelist, whose work reveals
0:07:39 > 0:07:43so many insights into the experience of colonial Australia.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53The very British Cheltenham Literary Festival, where this year
0:07:53 > 0:07:58Peter Carey is being presented with a lifetime achievement award.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Now in his 70s, Carey is one of only three authors
0:08:02 > 0:08:04to have won the Booker Prize twice.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10Peter and I both have a fascination with the history of colonialism.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I began by asking him about how his work reflects
0:08:13 > 0:08:17the particularly Australian experience of the British Empire.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22I would think that we are really aware that we are settlers.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27We are really deeply aware that it's not really our land.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- Sure.- Even some of the more conservative amongst us
0:08:30 > 0:08:34really would grant that the indigenous people
0:08:34 > 0:08:37actually do know how to live in that land
0:08:37 > 0:08:41and that, really, it's a problem, it's a threatening place to us.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46You've talked about Australia being almost schizophrenic in some ways,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48with respect to their relationship
0:08:48 > 0:08:51to the "mother country" as it used to be called.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Everybody feels second-rate and feels, you know,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57the issue that the whole of society
0:08:57 > 0:09:00would be marked by the convict stain.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- Yeah.- So, my ancestors are there suffering from that.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09At the same time, being totally Anglophile
0:09:09 > 0:09:11and totally in love with the Empire,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14so my grandfather who never came to this country
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- called England home.- Home.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Carey's work involves rethinking the very language used
0:09:22 > 0:09:24to express that colonial experience.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29The story of the Kelly gang has been featured in countless films.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And Ned Kelly is notorious as an outlaw all over the world.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35In his version, Carey constructs
0:09:35 > 0:09:38an entirely new voice for this infamous figure.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43"I lost my own father at 12 years of age
0:09:43 > 0:09:46"and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48"My dear daughter, you are presently too young
0:09:48 > 0:09:50"to understand a word I write.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54"But this history is for you and will contain no single lie,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56"may I burn in hell if I speak false.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59"God willing, I shall live to see you read these words
0:09:59 > 0:10:02"to witness your astonishment and see your dark eyes widen
0:10:02 > 0:10:06"and your jaw drop when you finally comprehend the injustice
0:10:06 > 0:10:09"we poor Irish suffered in at this present age."
0:10:09 > 0:10:13I was very struck by the fact that, you know, this whole phenomenon
0:10:13 > 0:10:17of Ned Kelly, I mean, clearly he was a very violent person.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19- Uh-huh.- Well, he's seen...- Uh-huh.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22I know it's commonly said he's clearly a violent person.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- That's right. - But the accounts of his life
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and the so-called violence are mostly to do with fist fights,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32which I would say, having grown up in a country town,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34in Australia, really not...
0:10:34 > 0:10:37That's not violence at any particular level at all.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40So you're seeing him as an anti-authoritarian, an anti...
0:10:40 > 0:10:43I mean, what's driving him, in your mind?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Oh, the rage at the unfairness of life.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54The people who represent the Empire are the police and the judiciary.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57And when Ned Kelly hoodwinks the police
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- and makes a fool of the police for about a year and a half...- Yeah.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04..he is showing the world we might be the convict seed, guys,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06but we can be who we want to be.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11The novel Jack Maggs sees Carey exploring
0:11:11 > 0:11:14the relationship between the colonies and the motherland,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19as he daringly rewrites Charles Dickens' Great Expectations,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23but this time from the perspective of the convict Magwitch.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26"As the flies began to tease his skin,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31"the wretched man would begin to build London in his mind,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33"he would build it brick by brick,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36"as the horrid double-cat smote the air,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40"eddying forth like a storm from hell itself.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43"Underneath the scalding sun,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47"which burned his flesh as soon as it was mangled,
0:11:47 > 0:11:53"Jack Maggs would imagine the long, mellow light of English summer."
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Was there a significance in the fact that you picked on Dickens?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Is that something which you thought about
0:12:02 > 0:12:04as the arch-imperial enemy, if you like?
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Because there was a time when Dickens was just thrust down people's throats in British schools.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11I sort of escaped all that process.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13I didn't have any personal animosity against Dickens.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17But, you know, it was a typically sort of rash
0:12:17 > 0:12:19and rather reckless thing to do on my behalf,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and I do remember, having written it,
0:12:22 > 0:12:27coming in from Heathrow in a taxi, and going, "Oh, what have I done?"
0:12:27 > 0:12:30- You know...- You've taken on the whole British Empire.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34In his novel Oscar And Lucinda,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Carey explores the complexities of the colonial psyche
0:12:37 > 0:12:40through the story of two Australian settlers
0:12:40 > 0:12:42and a misguided bet.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45The novel's enduring image,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47captured in the 1997 film,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50is the transportation of a glass church through the outback
0:12:50 > 0:12:52and up the Bellinger River.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57I had this notion which is like a political cartoon almost,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59it's a glass church floating up a river,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01filled with Christian stories through a landscape of...
0:13:01 > 0:13:06- So that's where the novel starts, with that image.- So it's not like...
0:13:06 > 0:13:10- You had a master plan of...- I knew what the story was going to be
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and I knew what it meant in terms of the society,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15but along the way, one finds all sorts of things
0:13:15 > 0:13:18that one didn't know one knew, or was even interested in.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22"My great-grandfather drifted up the Bellinger River
0:13:22 > 0:13:25"like a blind man up the central aisle of Notre Dame.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28"He saw nothing.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31"The country was thick with sacred stories, more ancient than the ones
0:13:31 > 0:13:34"he carried in his sweat-slippery leather Bible.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38"He did not even imagine their presence.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41"In this landscape, every rock had a name,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45"and most names had spirits, ghosts, meanings."
0:13:46 > 0:13:49And talking about the Australian settler experience,
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and we mentioned that clearly there were people we call aborigines,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I mean, literally original people,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00who lived on the continent of Australia for 50,000 years.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- Yep.- I mean, how likely is it that in the future you might try
0:14:04 > 0:14:07and give them more of a voice in your creative work?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Well, I think you cannot be Australian
0:14:09 > 0:14:12and you certainly can't be an Australian writer,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16without, almost every day, thinking of this issue.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21So then you have to think about what you can succeed in doing,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25what you can know, what you can invent, and I've never forgotten
0:14:25 > 0:14:30a conversation years ago with an aboriginal activist.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33His name I think was Gary Foley, saying, "You guys,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38"you've made up enough shit about us. We've got to deal with that now.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41"So just do us a favour and don't make up any more for a bit."
0:14:41 > 0:14:43- Just stop. - I think it's a reasonable point.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46On the other hand, with everything I've done,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I think the one basic fact of Australia
0:14:49 > 0:14:52is the fact that the land was stolen,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54that we lied, that we...
0:14:54 > 0:14:57So every book acknowledges it.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00The present book I'm writing at the moment
0:15:00 > 0:15:02is trying to do something a little more.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06And, um...we'll see how I go.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Thank you.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19India, of course, was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21And Indian textiles were especially valued,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24as Britain could export these throughout the world.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Comedian Shazia Mirza looks at how fabric tells the evolving story
0:15:28 > 0:15:31between Britain and India in the colonial era.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42I've come to the Victoria and Albert Museum for a new exhibition
0:15:42 > 0:15:45celebrating the fabrics of India.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47It's a riot of colour and beauty,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51with hundreds of dazzling textiles spanning 2,000 years,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55and every part of the Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Not only is the whole exhibition a tribute
0:16:03 > 0:16:06to centuries of sophisticated craftsmanship,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09it also has a particular significance for me,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants.
0:16:13 > 0:16:14I was brought up in Birmingham
0:16:14 > 0:16:17where I always wanted to dress like my friends -
0:16:17 > 0:16:20in low-cut tops, short sleeves and short skirts.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23But my mother, being very conservative,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25dressed us all very conservatively.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29And all my clothes were made by some random Asian lady
0:16:29 > 0:16:32who lived down the road using traditional Indian fabrics
0:16:32 > 0:16:36brought over from India by my relatives.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39So now, seeing all this, it's like going back in time.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44While the fabrics might feel familiar,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47these are priceless historical artefacts,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49many dating from imperial times.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54This map shawl from the 1870s,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57with its impressive hand-embroidered detail,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00was intended as a present from the ruler of Kashmir
0:17:00 > 0:17:03to the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09But it wasn't all about gift-giving.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15This is part of a huge, decorated, cloth tent
0:17:15 > 0:17:18used as a movable palace by Tipu Sultan,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20the Islamic ruler of Mysore.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Tipu was killed by the British in a bloody battle in 1799,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and his possessions, including this tent, were taken as war booty.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34After the British quashed Tipu,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36it was acquired by a local colonial governor
0:17:36 > 0:17:41called Lord Clive, who took it back home to his castle in Wales
0:17:41 > 0:17:44and used it as a marquee for garden parties.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I knew I recognised it from somewhere.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58The exhibition also reveals one surprising legacy of Empire -
0:17:58 > 0:18:01how the British acquired a taste for chintz.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05This Indian textile was first brought to Britain
0:18:05 > 0:18:09by 17th-century traders and has been a hallmark
0:18:09 > 0:18:13of English interior design and fashion ever since.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18This early-18th-century creation of a petticoat and jacket
0:18:18 > 0:18:20was created for export to the English market.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Hence the low-cut top.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But to me, it could just be a Laura Ashley creation.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27I've got carpets that look like that.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30It's so quintessentially English.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33I would never associate this fabric with India at all.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37In the 1700s, chintz became so popular
0:18:37 > 0:18:40that weavers in Britain feared they'd go out of business
0:18:40 > 0:18:41and had it banned.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47After the ban, wearing chintz like this became an act of rebellion.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Some women were even attacked in the street.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54I've heard of people being attacked for wearing fur, but florals?
0:18:54 > 0:18:56That's a first!
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Soon, the British were collecting samples of Indian fabrics
0:19:02 > 0:19:06to copy and manufacture more cheaply in their own mills.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08It nearly destroyed the Indian cloth industry,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11but local craftsmen fought back
0:19:11 > 0:19:14and contemporary fashions on display reveal
0:19:14 > 0:19:17it's still in really good health today.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Two of the most spectacular items on show in the exhibition
0:19:23 > 0:19:26are the creations of Manish Arora,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29one of India's leading fashion designers.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33His colourful clothes are much loved in the West
0:19:33 > 0:19:35and worn by celebrities like Katy Perry.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40I met up with Manish to find out
0:19:40 > 0:19:43how he incorporates traditional techniques into his designs.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Well, when I started showing internationally,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50I realised I had to take my culture with me.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53And what could I do? I could take my craftsmanship with me
0:19:53 > 0:19:58because today I think Indians do the best embroideries in the world,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00even Chinese can't do that.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02Besides that, for me,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04I was brought up since I was a child
0:20:04 > 0:20:07seeing women wearing red, blue, green, orange, yellow,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10all in one garment, and with all the embellishments
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and the shine and still look convincing.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16And that has come with me throughout my life.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21So it's just natural for me to adapt that in my work.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Gold and pink are my religion, and I love, I love embellishments.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- The glitz and glamour. - The shinier, the better.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Oh, that's good.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38If you walk into my studio, you will see at any given point of time
0:20:38 > 0:20:40about 150, 200 people working...
0:20:42 > 0:20:49Sometimes I'm amazed that they can just stare at one fabric for months
0:20:49 > 0:20:54and go on and on and keep sewing sequins on it in such fine detail.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56I think they are the real artists.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00A work of art is the only way to describe this dress.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04With its 1,500 individual butterflies
0:21:04 > 0:21:06made from vinyl and plastic,
0:21:06 > 0:21:08each one hand embroidered.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12That dress was made for my first show in Paris.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17We had about 20 or 25 people involved for four months
0:21:17 > 0:21:20going through various techniques of appliqueing
0:21:20 > 0:21:22and then sending it for hand embroidery
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and then attaching the tentacles and putting the pearls.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Then making all the 1,500 pieces and then attaching them.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34- Yeah, it's a lot of work. - It's a lot of work.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37The craftsmanship takes such a long time.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Do people in the West just expect a really quick turnaround?
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Yes, they do, in the West.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And what we're doing now is just churning things,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48we're not creating, I don't think anyone has the time to spend
0:21:48 > 0:21:53or to be one of a kind, or come up with ideas
0:21:53 > 0:21:56which are straight from the heart because no-one has time.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Yes, in India we appreciate it takes a very long time.
0:21:59 > 0:22:00And I don't want to miss that.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03I want to continue doing that and I will.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16And now we are going to take a look at an artist
0:22:16 > 0:22:18who has taken a unique journey.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20From the Caribbean, to London
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and back to his ancestral roots in Africa.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24Fokowan was born George Kelly,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28but adopted his Yoruba name after a life-changing trip to Nigeria.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31This set him on the path to creating
0:22:31 > 0:22:33a truly distinctive form of sculpture.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39This is my home.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42And this is where I make my work.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49In the religion of Nigeria, they talk about the head
0:22:49 > 0:22:51being the seat of consciousness.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53And so I deal with heads,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55I deal with the seat of consciousness.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1943,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06which was then part of the British Empire.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Education was based on the British model,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14or controlled by the colonial masters.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19And most of it came from the Royal Crown Reader series.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22And that really was just a piece of propaganda for the British Empire.
0:23:22 > 0:23:28When you saw black people, they were savages in Africa
0:23:28 > 0:23:31with white missionaries in pots and they'd be dancing around.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36We were not really taught anything, especially in history,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39about local Jamaica.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43And so our whole existence was about ignoring,
0:23:43 > 0:23:48pretending we didn't notice, anything that was black.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54You know, I'm running around in the sunshine,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57I run around barefooted, no problem.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01I come to England to find that we were living in a house
0:24:01 > 0:24:03with about 50 people.
0:24:03 > 0:24:0750 people living in this four-storey building in Brixton.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Every house had chimneys, and the only time I'd ever seen
0:24:11 > 0:24:14chimneys in Jamaica was at the cement factory.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And by the end of September, October,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20smoke started coming out of these chimneys.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25And then we ended up with fog and smog, it was just unbelievable.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30They put me in a class with another black guy,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34but he was born here and he couldn't understand what I was saying
0:24:34 > 0:24:37when I spoke to him, and I didn't understand a word.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- He said... - HE MUMBLES
0:24:40 > 0:24:41A real cockney, he was!
0:24:41 > 0:24:44But there were some other outsiders
0:24:44 > 0:24:46who nobody could understand either.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48They all came from Glasgow.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53So they would talk and nobody in the class would understand them,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56so they took me in and they took care of me.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59# Oh, the harder they come
0:24:59 > 0:25:02# The harder they'll fall... #
0:25:02 > 0:25:05I became a musician for a while.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10So a point came when Jimmy Cliff needed a sound engineer
0:25:10 > 0:25:13to do a tour in Nigeria.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19And so I was asked to do the job, this was in 1974.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23I left the airport and headed towards the hotel
0:25:23 > 0:25:25and I saw all these people I knew.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31The first time I'd seen so many black faces since I left Jamaica.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34It's like a river, or rivers of black faces,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37and it was like, "George, you're home!"
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Going to that country totally transformed my perception of life,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47of spirit. I mean, the place was so electrifying,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50you could actually cut the electricity
0:25:50 > 0:25:52that was whizzing around in the air.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55And I brought back some of that with me.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57But the spirit kind of said to me,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02music isn't the way for you to express this thing.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05So I went out and got clay and started modelling.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09And it was a way of releasing all that pent-up stuff.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16The first exhibition that I actually took part in,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19that was the beginning, and it was really exciting.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Young artists came from university for the first time who were
0:26:22 > 0:26:25trained here, who were born here.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Then you had people like myself who didn't go to university,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32are self-taught, had brought something with us
0:26:32 > 0:26:35from the Caribbean that we needed to say, and we had to say.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39We were all invited to take part in an exhibition.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42We all entered a piece, and mine was actually rejected.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I went to collect the piece and asked the curator why.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49The curator then told me, to my face,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51that my piece was too tribal.
0:26:51 > 0:26:58Something in the art that I produce had some powerful element
0:26:58 > 0:27:05that showed the difference between those who bring to this culture
0:27:05 > 0:27:07and those who were born into this culture.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14The idea of the purpose
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and reason for doing art was really for my community.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24It wasn't about being some kind of solemn artist who creates art
0:27:24 > 0:27:26to sell and make a lot of money.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30It wasn't a lot of money, as long as I am warm and I'm fed
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and I have a glass of wine, I'm fine.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38But there are one-off pieces that can't be reproduced.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Therefore they have to stay within the community.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45I really would like to donate them to an institution
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and then I'd be happy, yes.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Thank you for watching.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55I leave you with Laura Mvula performing a song by Fela Kuti
0:27:55 > 0:27:57at the British Library as part of their celebration
0:27:57 > 0:27:59of West African culture.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- # Everyone, dey dance - Him go push
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go shout
0:28:05 > 0:28:06- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go see
0:28:06 > 0:28:08- # Everyone, dey think - Him go drink
0:28:08 > 0:28:11- # Everyone, dey dance - Him go push
0:28:11 > 0:28:13- # Everyone, dey talk - Him go shout
0:28:13 > 0:28:15- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go sleep
0:28:15 > 0:28:17- # Everyone, dey think - Him go drink
0:28:17 > 0:28:19- # Everyone, dey dance - Him go push
0:28:19 > 0:28:21- # Everyone, dey talk - Him go shout
0:28:21 > 0:28:24- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go sleep
0:28:24 > 0:28:26- # Everyone, dey think - Him go drink
0:28:26 > 0:28:28- # Everyone, dey dance - Him go push
0:28:28 > 0:28:30- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go shout
0:28:30 > 0:28:32- # Everyone, dey hear - Him go sleep
0:28:32 > 0:28:34- # Everyone, dey think - Him go drink
0:28:34 > 0:28:36# He say na-na-na
0:28:36 > 0:28:38# Him don show himself
0:28:38 > 0:28:41# Opposite people Them go show themselves... #