Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

In the Studio

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Inside the brains of the world’s most creative people

In the Studio takes us into the minds and processes of leading and emerging figures from across the creative world.

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

In the Studio: Hew Locke in the heart of Tate Britain

Magazines & Reviews

Hew Locke in the heart of Tate Britain

29/03/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Hew Locke in the heart of Tate Britain

The Guyanese-British artist creates his largest work to date.

Every year Tate Britain invites an artist to create an exciting new commission for the grand spaces of the Duveen Galleries at the heart of the building. This year the commission will be by internationally renowned Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke. He’s been making work for over thirty years, and the 90-metre space with its unique neo-classical architecture is his most ambitious project to date. 

In 1966, just before Independence, Hew moved to Guyana with his parents, where he spent most of his childhood. This is key to his story as an artist, as icons, myths and individuals that come to represent a country’s notion of nationhood have always fascinated him.

Poetic, political and theatrical, Hew’s sculptures are assembled from materials and sources that reference global histories and the symbols of our age; from coats-of-arms, trophies and weapons to plastic toys, boats and flowers. His work explores the languages of colonial and post-colonial power, questioning ideas of global cultural identities and how these representations are altered by the passage of time. Steeped in history, the artwork is painstakingly researched with the help of Hew’s wife, curator Indra Khanna.

Felicity Finch joins them in their London studio as the new commission starts to take shape and at Tate Britain for the installation. 

Presented and produced by Felicity Finch
Executive Producer: Rebecca Armstrong for the BBC World Service

Accessibility links

Programme Index

In the Studio

Hew Locke in the heart of Tate Britain

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service