Search for artist to repaint history in corridors of power
PARLIAMENT is advertising for a new artist in residence to paint women and people from black and ethnic minorities to help shift the balance away from the white male portraits dominating Westminster’s corridors.
For most of the 20th century, a Parliamentary rule that banned portraits of MPs being hung until 10 years after their death meant that it took decades for changes in the mix of gender and ethnicity in the Commons and Lords to be reflected in artwork.
That rule was relaxed in the Nineties, and although the £25,000 commission will not focus on MPs, it will result in a major work of art celebrating the legacy of the 1965, 1968 and 1976 Race Relations Acts, which will be hung in the Houses of Parliament.
Alison McGovern MP, chairman of the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art, said: “The art on the walls of the Houses of Parliament reflects the values and interests of the Victorians who commissioned it and it tells a particular story about British history before the 20th century. Unsurprisingly, it has long been noted that these artworks do not reflect either the modern or historic diversity of the UK’s population. The Works of Art Committee is committed to rectifying this by increasing, over time, the representation of women and ethnic minorities.”
The new artist, who could be a painter, photographer or digital artist, will travel around the country and create six artworks relating to the development of race discrimination legislation and its effect on different British communities.
The six pictures will stay in those communities, but a seventh artwork summing up the project will hang permanently in Parliament.