An Exhibition That Gives the Finger to Authority https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/arts/design/i-object-british-museum-ian-hislop.html

An Exhibition That Gives the Finger to Authority

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From left: A “Pussy Hat,” an Afghan war rug and a papier-mâché puppet of a factory owner from a Mexican Day of the Dead festival. All are featured in “I object” at the British Museum.CreditCreditTrustees of British Museum

By Alex Marshall

• Sept. 6, 2018

LONDON — There have been exhibitions of protest art and satire, but the British Museum’s “I object,” running through Jan. 20, tells the history of political anger somewhat differently — by tracing the history of dissent right back, not just to the ’60s, or the French Revolution, but to the ancient Egyptians.

“I wanted the exhibition to be as broad as possible,” Ian Hislop, its curator, said while touring it recently. “I wanted to be able to include every gesture from writing your own name over the king’s on a Babylonian brick, to an intricate Chinese silk screen. I didn’t want to restrict it to placards and badges.”

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Ian Hislop, who organized the exhibition, has been the editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye for more than 30 years.CreditTrustees of the British Museum

Mr. Hislop’s curation is a coup for the museum. In Britain, his name is almost a byword for giving the finger to authority. For more than 30 years he’s been editor of Private Eye, Britain’s most prominent satirical magazine, which sells more than 230,000 copies each issue.

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But delving into the British Museum’s collections taught even him a few things about protest. “I always assumed that in ancient civilizations there wasn’t any — you dissent, you die,” Mr. Hislop said. “Actually that wasn’t true at all.” Well, he added, people did die, but only if they got caught.

Touring the exhibition, Mr. Hislop and Tom Hockenhull, a curator at the British Museum who collaborated with Mr. Hislop on the show — offered insight into some of their favorite items, including the fake ancient rock that the artist Banksy once hung in the museum. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

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British pennies from 1797 and 1903

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Ian Hislop: “You carve ‘Hang the Pope’ into a coin, spend it, and it’s gone.”CreditTrustees of British Museum

IAN HISLOP The first thing Tom said to me was the easiest way to get your message into circulation is to use what the authorities already have: money, coins, bank notes. It’s quick, and it’s fantastically efficient and it’s also pretty safe. You carve “Hang the Pope” into a coin, spend it, and it’s gone.

TOM HOCKENHULL There’s a symbolic gesture as well to defacing a coin of the realm as it’s effectively government property. It’s a bit like graffitiing Parliament.