The Bands of Pride

“The Bands of Pride” (2017), commissioned by the Migrations Museum for their show “No Turning Back: Seven Migration Moments that Changed Britain”, is a multi-panel collage and a response to the Expulsion of Jewish people from England (1290). The artist comments: ‘I was shocked to discover that in 1274 Edward 1 forced Jewish people to wear two pieces of yellow felt. This dehumanizing racist decree was designed for Jewish people to become targets of discrimination. Other policies; of not being able to own property, not being able to recover debt owed to them, not being able to trade etc., finally led to the Expulsion. Clearly a minority was being scapegoated for the countries financial problems.

I started to think about this Decree in contemporary times: Could it happen? Only 70 years ago European Jewish people under German Nazi rule were forced to wear the Star of David, which led to a more unbelievably violent consequence. It made me think about how this dehumanizing policy would affect my Jewish friends. I approached all of them to supply me with photos of themselves and their families, which became an integral part of the commission. I also spoke to them about the choice of colour, and concluded that it cannot be yellow, as the work could be seen as a celebration of the Decree rather than my subjects.

I came across the Blue City: Chefchaouen in Morocco, where, notably, Jewish settlers painted all the houses in shades of blue. I decided the artwork would be made in shades of blue to celebrate Jewish culture and contributions’.