True Indigo
This work confronts how modern Britain should engage with monuments to divisive figures of British colonial history. This temporary ceramic intervention was installed onto the plinth of the Robert Clive monument in Westminster, London in summer 2018.
Artist installing True Indigo
Who was Robert Clive?
Robert Clive is widely credited as being instrumental in securing control over large swathes of South Asia for the East India Company. Actions taken by Clive resulted in the plundering of Indian treasures and he oversaw policies that were disastrous to Indian farmers.
Excessive taxations as well as forced cultivation of ‘profitable’ indigo instead of food crops contributed to the Bengal famine in 1770 that killed up to ten million people.
There is no doubt that Clive had a significant impact on British history so should quite rightly be remembered. But the unseen millions of men, women and children who starved as a result of Clive and the East India Company’s ruthless pursuit of profit should also be remembered.
Installing True Indigo
Installing True Indigo
True Indigo completed installation
