MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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The ancestors know
ROGER McKENZIE recommends an exhibition that explores the colonial plunder hidden in the collection, and the questions it raises
Unrecorded Taino artist, Boinayel the Rain Giver figure, c. 1256-1300
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Hew Locke – What Have We Here?
British Museum, London
I FEEL like I’m walking into one of those stolen goods storage areas in a police station when I walk into a museum. To me, museums are basically lock-ups.
No matter how much fancy language is used to try to finesse it, the basic truth is many of the “exhibits” in museums are there because some colonialist has decided to remove them from their rightful dwelling place, either to make money or to claim that the only “safe” place for them is in a museum.
Nevertheless, I love the British Museum — as a history buff I can’t help it! It is just full of all the things I want to find out more about. Much of it is the heritage that has been hidden or stolen from me.
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