Description
State Britain is a meticulous recreation of a 40 metre long display which had originally been situated around peace campaigner Brian Haw's protest outside the Houses of Parliament against policies towards Iraq.
The original display consisted of over 600 items, many donations from the public, including paintings, placards, photos of families, banners, posters, graffiti, traffic cones, tarpaulins, temporary fencing and toys. These included a poster, "Blair Lies, Kids Die!", a banner, "Baby Killers", photos of babies maimed and burnt in missile attacks, a statement that parliament spent seven hours discussing the war in Iraq and 700 hours discussing fox-hunting, and a white teddy bear holding a sign, "Bears against bombs". In the centre is an image of Haw fixed to a wooden cross and wearing a t-shirt that says, "Bliar". Also displayed was a Banksy stencil of two soldiers painting a peace sign next to Leon Kuhn's anti-war political caricature 3 Guilty Men, both of which, together with Kuhn's The Proud Parents, Mark Wallinger later displayed in his recreation at the Tate in 2007.
The original display, apart from a three metre section, was confiscated by the police under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which prohibits unauthorised protests in a specified "exclusion zone" around Parliament.
Mark Wallinger employed 15 people for 6 months and spent £90,000 to recreate it in its entirety. It was installed inside the Duveen Hall of Tate Britain in January 2007. Signs at all the entrances to the hall warn that the exhibit contains images of extreme human suffering.
The Sunday Times saw the show as more indication that the arts establishment had turned against the Labour government. It contrasted Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota's endorsement of Wallinger's show with the private tour of Tate Modern Serota had given to Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2000. At that time Blair's government had courted Young British Artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst to help "modernise" Britain.
State Britain was curated in collaboration with Wallinger by Tate curator, Clarrie Wallis. It was on show until 27 August 2007.
Wallinger was shortlisted for the Turner Prize on 8 May 2007 for State Britain, and announced the winner on 3 December 2007.
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