The Paul Mellon Center has issued a call for papers for a one-day workshop on Hew Locke’s installation, “The Procession”—convened by Indie A. Choudhury, Elena Crippa, and Mark Hallett—to be held on October 11, 2022. Deadline for abstracts is 4 September 2022 (23:59, BST).
Description/Instructions: ‘A Colossal Collage’; ‘An epic poem’; ‘A sort of riddle’: Hew Locke’s own descriptions of his work The procession, an installation currently marching in frozen majesty through the Duveen galleries at London’s Tate Britain, provides an eloquent indication of the piece’s complexity, scale and ambition. Locke’s monumental creation—consisting of one hundred and fifty life-size, hand-crafted figures dressed in a kaleidoscopic array of colorful clothing, carrying a spectacular array of flags and shown as if riding a great carnival cavalcade— generated a tremendous amount of critical acclaim upon its unveiling as the Tate’s latest Duveen commission in March 2002 and has captivated and intrigued gallery visitors ever since.
Linked to its sheer visual power, the work claims to have captured attention thanks to its multifaceted references to a wide range of highly charged issues, stories and themes. These include narratives of carnival, protest and ceremonial gatherings, themes of postcolonial trade, slavery, environmental disaster, empire and revolution, and traditions of heraldry and insignia. The work is also open to being read in relation to the work of other modern and contemporary artists, to Locke’s earlier practice, and to the long artistic tropes of monumental sculpture, history painting, and collage. Extensive detail covers the history, architectural setting and extractive practices in Guyana. Procession also consciously engages in an active, critical dialogue with the Tate’s own spaces, collections and histories, and marks a milestone in the career of this great Guyanese-British artist.
For all these reasons, the time now seems ripe for submission The procession for sustained critical and scholarly analysis, and to explore the various ways in which it can be interpreted, contextualized and experienced. This one-day workshop, convened by Indie A. Choudhury, Elena Crippa and Mark Hallett, and organized as part of a wider project which will include the creation of a feature film about The procession, is designed to generate fresh and original perspectives on what is emerging as a major work of art of our time. The day will feature a session with the work itself, at Tate Britain; it will also include a series of panels at the Paul Mellon Center. Contributors will give short presentations focusing on a particular topic or aspect of the work. There will be plenty of time for general discussions and for conversations with the artist himself who will participate in the works.
In lieu of formal proposals, we invite expressions of interest from researchers and students who would like to attend the event and make a ten-minute workshop presentation by responding The procession. If you are interested in making such a contribution, please email a 150-word description of your proposed paper and a fifty-word biography in a single Word document to [email protected] until midnight on Sunday, September 4.
For more information see https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/whats-on/forthcoming/the-procession-cfp
