The Artful Dodger: The Once and Future Britain

What does cultural diversity mean to modern Britain and what would our society look like if this was stripped away? In these politically correct times these are thoughts that we have all, at some point, contemplated. And these are the pertinent questions raised by an innovative group of emerging artists whose work is giving London a thought provoking wake-up call to the prospect of a future devoid of multi-cultural integration and tolerance.

In collaboration with one of the UK’s first aerosol writers of the 1980s, The Artful Dodger (A Dee), a posse of 18-25 year old artists have been set the task of creating a display for the huge window at Rivington Place. The premise is confrontational and bleak. Britain in 2024 is a society in which cultural and religious holidays have been banned. The window display represents the repercussions of this future, “socially-cohesive” nation.

The foundation of this project is a staggeringly bold feat of the imagination – somehow a piece of wall art created by a trans-cultural group protesting against this controversial political development has been transported back to 2009. Languishing in the East End, it is there as a warning of what contemporary society risks becoming.

And what a warning it is. Around ten feet long and created using stencils, aerosol painting, photography and graphic design, it acts as a transfixing, foreboding comment on the freedom of expression and the dangers of its erosion.

This future revolutionary group’s creations are planned around popular festivals and holidays, all of which have been prohibited. As 2009 prepares for Christmas with festive abandon, this display brutally tells us that in 2024 this will be replaced by “Social Order Advancement Participation Day”, commonly known as SOAP. The wry comment on commercialism is timely and amusing, yet also hints at darker tones of fascism. Showcased in a culturally diverse area such as East London in the same year as Question Time’s BNP debate, these cannot be easily dismissed.

A mammoth truck forms the artwork’s centre piece. From this hang various placards daubed with collages of fading Christmas cards and images of television screens peremptorily telling viewers to “buy, buy.” Most disturbing of all, however, is the inescapable spectre of death: skulls litter the ground, a mother/ Virgin Mary figure cradles a death’s head and a child sits crouched and broken in a wheel chair.

The cunning juxtaposition of bright, traditionally festive colours associated with joy, giving and merriment with stark illustrations of decay should stop any passerby by in their tracks. It summons up the often desolate reality behind the glitter and schmaltz of this time of the year. Yet the real power of this piece’s comment transcends the seasons, reminding us of the importance of preserving the cultural and social liberties that we too often take for granted.

The Artful Dodger: The Once and Future Britain, Annual window commission, Presented by Iniva, Rivington Place, London, EC2A 3BA, until 2 January 2010.