We Are History: Race, Colonialism and Climate Change
Free exhibition at Somerset House until 6 February: find out more here.
January is a great month to visit a gallery or museum. This was no exception, lovely to walk by the Thames and along the classical facades of Somerset House and see people again. We spent an hour or so in the exhibition and then as much time again chatting in the café with familiar and new faces.
This small but well-curated exhibition is a window on a much, much bigger world. Through photos, textiles, prints and two rich, evocative films, 11 artists explore aspects of colonialism in the Caribbean, South America and Africa. And show its interconnectedness with climate change.
At first the concept seems so vast, you wonder how the exhibition will get a purchase on it. And then, almost straight away, the artefacts and installations reflect back images of empire we grew up with, ludicrous tigers and palm trees, and say “Really? You thought it was as simple and consumable as this?”
It doesn’t take long to make the connection between the violence colonialism wreaked on people and natural resources, and the chain of events leading to climate crisis. Sea, sun, wind, the song of whales… nature appears in different guises, ravaged and replenished, nightmare and dream. As the exhibition literature puts it, “We Are History presents works which are moving, lyrical and thought-provoking, capturing nature as a place of both beauty and fragility.”
We know when Britain left the colonies, it continued and continues to suck wealth from them and stash it in tax havens. Treasure islands. The patterns of exploitation begun centuries ago, like deep tides continue to ebb and flow. As we think about social justice for people, for Black Lives and #MeToo, can we map the impact of 500 years of colonialism on our planet too and see that climate justice is equally important and utterly interconnected? This exhibition makes a brave start.
Review by Hester Brown


