Facing Britain
Facing Britain is the name of the exhibition which is currently shown at the museum Mönchehaus Goslar. It is a touring exhibition that could be visited in other German cities before. Facing Britain claims that it documents the development of the British society from the 1960ies until today. What has started as documentary photography, our guide tells us, ends with artistic pictures from the 21st century. Susanne and me are not of the same opion as our today’s guide. But I’ll tell you more about it later.
44 photographers, 250 pieces of art
The show displays altogether 250 pieces of art stemming from 44 different artists. That is quite a lot. And we are supposed to see them all on our guided tour. That’s a little bit too much. We get the feeling that we walk through the show in a kind of pig’s run. The concentration on a couple of hightlights, representing the particular era, would have been sufficient.
Focus of the exhibition are the 1970ies and 1980ies. Two decades, for sure, which were formative also in other countries. The center of the pictures are people who represent societal as well as political changes. The developments are being illustrated from the people’s point of view. Next to traditional life styles, such as the well-known Five o’clock Tea, where a witness of „stiff upper lips“ portraits, riots against social cruelties from the Thatcher era and observe the decline of the coal and steel industry.
The roaring 80ies
The roaring 80ies with its excessive party life are celebrated and pictured in revealing scenes. The high spirits are shown by the dress style als well as by the pose and the use of alcohol and cigarettes. The sexually supercharged atmosphere is also depicted with gestures of grabbing and a „shake what you have baby“ attitude. It seems like the picture cry out something like „who cares about tomorrow?“
Brexit and the legacy of the colonial times
The final fotos of the exhibition are dedicated to the Brexit and the legacy of the British colonial era. Migrants from India, Africa and other countries are shown in their new environment and how they struggle to adapt to a new culture and how they cultivate a piece of homeland behind closed doors.
We have reached the end of the guided tour. At the beginning there was the statement that such an exhibition, showing a closed and complete representation of the social and political changes of a country over a period of seventy years has never existed before. Well, we had a different notion o fit because different people have been photographed in different decades. In case only one person has been accompanied over the years, than that would have been a different story.
