Faisal Abdu'Allah: An Affair of Honour
Exhibition dates: May–October 2001
This exhibition is no longer on display.
Working primarily with photography and innovative printing techniques, Abdu’Allah’s work looks at black cultural identity.
The commissioned work, An Affair of Honour, was the result of several months' research into the NMM collection and took the form of photographs screen-printed onto large copper sheets, a technique developed by the artist. Faisal selected historical images of great maritime figures, and then recreated them using his friends as sitters.
By reproducing the type of traditional maritime scenes depicted in the NMM portraits, he proposed a contemporary re-reading of portraiture and history.
The larger work refers to the time when the Great Hall was used for the laying-in-state of corpses of military commanders, such as Richard Deane (1610–35), one of Cromwell's Generals at Sea. The smaller work shows an image of Flamsteed House.
Faisal Abdu’Allah worked in residence at the museum over the course of the summer. He used the time in the galleries to work with school children and adults, developing ideas about portraiture. The children began by looking at portraits in the 'Sea of Faces' exhibition (many of these portraits could be seen in the 'Images of Seapower' exhibition), and then investigating the 'ingredients' needed to make a portrait – background, costume, pose, composition and iconography. Using these ideas, they created their own group portraits with the artist.
This programme could not have happened without the hard work and creativity of pupils and teachers from the following schools: St. John’s Primary School, Crowborough; Belvedere Junior School, Belvedere; St. Michael’s Primary School, East Ham; Oakdale Junior School, South Woodford; St. Anne’s Primary School, Vauxhall.