Asset 4

THE PROCESSION BY HEW LOCKE

Guyana | UK

October 26, 2023

5:30 pm

Synopsis

The world is on the move. ‘The Procession by Hew Locke“, from acclaimed contemporary Guyanese-British artist, Hew Locke, brings the viewer face-to-face with 140 individual sculptures, representing a procession of adults, children, and horses.

Each figure carries the weight of their historical and cultural past, from global financial and violent colonial control, as evidenced in the embellishments on their clothes and banners, alongside commanding images that capture some of the colonial architecture of Locke’s childhood spent in Guyana.

Such historical, financial and colonial roots continue to surround mass movement of populations, and the resulting film is at once a protest, carnival, ritual and flight to safety.

Unveiled as a long continuous shot, the film features Locke’s sculptural installation entitled ‘The Procession’, Tate Britain’s Annual Duveen Hall Commission of 2022. Set within Tate Britain, founded by the sugar magnate Henry Tate, the film contextualises its environment and the building’s links to the colonial past, as the audience enters through its grand arches into a world that seeks to reinforce the joint importance of marching forwards as well as demanding an ongoing deeper reflection on the past.

We don’t know where they’re going, but we hope it’s to a better future.” Hew Locke

THE PROCESSION BY HEW LOCKE, will screen as part of the Opening Night program, the ones who shared their souls.

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**The film will also be available for viewing online from Oct 30 to Nov 3. Check our “How to Watch” page for step by step instructions.**

Venue: Castellani House
Vlissengen Road and Homestretch Avenue Georgetown

Andrew Margetsen

Hew Locke

About the Director

Andy, is an award-winning director of TV, commercials and short films. Having spent his childhood moving between Vietnam, USA and Europe, he started his career in the UK directing popular TV shows including The Word, The Big Breakfast, Miami 7and LA 7 – receiving 2 BAFTA nominations and an RTS award in the process. He went on to direct comedy drama including The Grimleys with Amanda Holden,  and Kay Mellor’s Playing the Field for ITV.

Dynamic, intimate, stylistically beautiful, and conceptually cutting-edge, his commercial work moves easily between performance and dance, comedy and beauty. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the world of film and fashion including: Idris Elba, Kate Hudson, Keanu Reeves, Sacha Baron Cohen and Karlie Kloss. In recent years, he has become known as one of the foremost directors of choreography. His work with superstar dancers such as Lil Buck, Keone and Mari, Marianela Nunez and Lauren Cuthbertson has brought him a raft of awards and tens of millions of views online. His dance films have been exhibited everywhere from giant screens in South Korea to art galleries in New York.

He’s based in London, UK.

Born in Edinburgh in 1959, Hew Locke spent his formative years in Guyana, South America, before returning to the UK to study Fine Art at Falmouth (1988), and MA Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London (1994).

Developing a practice that explores the visual codes of power and cultural diversity, Locke draws attention to a range of subject matter; including royal portraiture, coats-of-arms, public statuary, trophies, weaponry and costume. His ability to successfully fuse influences from both his Caribbean and British backgrounds, together with his own political and cultural concerns, makes for some witty, multi-layered works which amalgamate modern materials with historical subject matter.

Applying a critical sensitivity to his creative practice, Locke’s work stands at a crossroads between cultural associations and historic references that interrogates the symbols of our age.

About the Director

Andrew Margetsen

Andy, is an award-winning director of TV, commercials and short films. Having spent his childhood moving between Vietnam, USA and Europe, he started his career in the UK directing popular TV shows including The Word, The Big Breakfast, Miami 7and LA 7 – receiving 2 BAFTA nominations and an RTS award in the process. He went on to direct comedy drama including The Grimleys with Amanda Holden,  and Kay Mellor’s Playing the Field for ITV.

Dynamic, intimate, stylistically beautiful, and conceptually cutting-edge, his commercial work moves easily between performance and dance, comedy and beauty. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in the world of film and fashion including: Idris Elba, Kate Hudson, Keanu Reeves, Sacha Baron Cohen and Karlie Kloss. In recent years, he has become known as one of the foremost directors of choreography. His work with superstar dancers such as Lil Buck, Keone and Mari, Marianela Nunez and Lauren Cuthbertson has brought him a raft of awards and tens of millions of views online. His dance films have been exhibited everywhere from giant screens in South Korea to art galleries in New York.

He’s based in London, UK.

Hew Locke

Born in Edinburgh in 1959, Hew Locke spent his formative years in Guyana, South America, before returning to the UK to study Fine Art at Falmouth (1988), and MA Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London (1994).

Developing a practice that explores the visual codes of power and cultural diversity, Locke draws attention to a range of subject matter; including royal portraiture, coats-of-arms, public statuary, trophies, weaponry and costume. His ability to successfully fuse influences from both his Caribbean and British backgrounds, together with his own political and cultural concerns, makes for some witty, multi-layered works which amalgamate modern materials with historical subject matter.

Applying a critical sensitivity to his creative practice, Locke’s work stands at a crossroads between cultural associations and historic references that interrogates the symbols of our age.