The work focuses on the role of displacement and migration in the building of Brent and in the shaping of different cultures in general. The pieces exhibited here are inspired by my ongoing project, “Sunflowers Everywhere” — a project working with memories, their complex nature, and their association with surrounding landscapes. Migration has been a key element of separation and control within the British Empire. Similarly, people were taken away from their homes with promises of work, money, and better opportunities during the British Empire Exhibition in 1924 and 1925.
The work exhibited here, “The Pictures of Foundation”, is a series of images made using image compositing, using portraits from the postcards of the people exhibited in the British Empire Exhibition and photographs that I took in and around the Borough of Brent. Referring to the role of migration and displacement, the images remove the people from the landscape where they were presented as trophies or possessions of the colonial Empire and place them within present-day landscapes, portraying them as part of these spaces. Here, they are represented as regular human beings who are part of the history of Brent and are people involved in the foundations of Brent’s culture — similar to us, who are the present of Brent, involved in building its future.
The people portrayed are looking directly at the camera/the viewers, acknowledging a corporeal presence, signifying an unseen influence. The direct eye contact can be seen as a confrontation, inviting people into a conversation. Similarly, the visitors, standing in the red tape area, are also instructed to look straight and maintain eye contact — confronting the viewers, acknowledging their presence, and the visitors, in turn, acknowledging the presence of the people as part of the exhibition.