WITH BOATS hanging from all sorts of places at the Tate Liverpool, Hew Locke told the Voice that with his latest exhibition he was attempting to address the reality that ‘today’s refugee is tomorrow’s citizen’.
Locke’s Armada 2019, an immersive large-scale installation made up of a flotilla of model boats and rafts, as the centrepiece of a free collection display – Port and Migrations – examines the city’s relationship to migration and international exchange.
The exhibit is made up of an array of cargo ships, fishing boats, caravels and galleons from different historical periods and places.
Described by Locke as votive boats, Armada is based on models he’d noticed in European churches and cathedrals, offered by worshippers giving thanks for survival at sea.
Suspended from the ceiling at shoulder height, each boat is made from, and embellished, with a variety of materials.
Some feature nets and decorations, whilst others incorporate jewels, charms, military badges, and replica medals from the Caribbean, Syria, and elsewhere. Armada reflects on international trade and the movement of goods, as well as the movement of people and the current global refugee crisis.
Speaking on his own experience travelling from the Caribbean on a boat as a child, Locke said he was oblivious at the time to the many reasons why anyone would be making that journey.
“I came on a boat called the Montserrat,” Locke said.
He added: “I came here because my father was studying art for about seven months at Edinburgh school of Art. What I didn’t realize until years later, is some of the people were from the post Windrush generation coming here to live. I was viewing it as a trip, a holiday, almost like a long holiday.”
Speaking on the exhibition itself, Locke added: “The name Armada, it’s all about the ideas of invasion, ideas of migration. We’re moving in one direction, but where are they going? We don’t know, it’s a mystery.
“It’s about the burden of history basically. And that’s what runs through the whole thing.
“And it is alluding to things like the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, but it’s also talking at the same time about you get on a boat, and the sea can be a great leveler.
“I mean, okay, if you got GPS and you got a fancy yacht and stuff you’re doing good, but then a storm comes up and you’re in trouble.
“All of a sudden you’re like, oh, hang on a second. I’m reduced here, all my millions and still potentially in trouble.
“So, it’s trying to create empathy with people, trying to make complicated links. It’s not just migration across the Mediterranean. It’s not the darkness of that, but it’s about migration from say, places like Haiti to the US, it’s about people traveling from one place to another, trying to get to a better life.”
Opening later this Spring, Locke will be the next artist to undertake the annual Tate Britain Commission, presenting his response to the unique architecture and context of the neo-classical Duveen Galleries at the heart of Tate Britain, in his most ambitious project to date. Pick up your April issue of the Voice Newspaper to read all about Locke’s thoughts ahead of that project launch.
Speaking about the recent acquisition, Polly Staple, Director of Collection, British Art, Tate said: “Hew Locke’s Armada is a wonderfully layered, visually engaging work – inviting you to explore complex histories.
“A major acquisition for Tate in 2019, Armada underscores our commitment to resituating British art and developing new understandings of the transnational histories of British culture.
“A particularly apt location for Armada’s display, we are delighted that Tate Liverpool will be the first of our sites to showcase this seminal work, ahead of Hew’s Tate Britain annual commission opening later this Spring.”
This is the first time Armada will be shown at Tate, following its acquisition in 2019, supported by Art Fund and Tate’s International Council.
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