There was too much for just one post on Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 at Tate Britain so here is more as the stories about the work really matter.
An early video piece by Mona Hatoum , Roadworks 1985 (still, above) shows her walking through the streets of Brixton after the riots of 1981 & 85. I wanted to share this comment from the artist:
” When a group of builders, standing having their lunch break, said ‘What the hell is happening here? What is she up to?’ And this Black woman, passing by with her shopping, said to them, ‘well it’s obvious. She’s being followed by the police.’ ”
The text accompanying Art of Survival by Kate Walker explains her piece. Walker died in 2015 and it has been reconfigured with the help of her daughters.
Lubaina Himid’s The Carrot Piece of 1985 illustrates the British art establishment’s tokenistic attitude to exhibiting the work of people of colour. Let’s hope that the recent changes to this approach become permanent.
