Announcement relating to an exhibition, 2004
Published by: Hatton Gallery
Year published: 2004
Unpaginated.

Naming the Money was a substantial exhibition by Lubaina Himid, held at the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, 17 January - 13 March 2004. It consisted of 100 life size figures, each representing the largely un-named captured Africans who, whilst in effect slaves, were used as servile adornment by wealthy families in Britain and other parts of Europe, during the many years of the slave slave. The exhibition came with a hard cover catalogue, A5 portrait in size, prolifically illustrated, and with substantial supporting texts in the form of correspondence from Himid to the curator, brief summaries of the names and identities that Himid assigned to her 100 figures, and an essay by Lucy Whetstone, Curator, Hatton Gallery. Moreover, the flyer for the exhibition carried, on its reverse, a particularly useful introduction to the exhibition, written by Himid herself.

From the flyer, “When I began this project I was convinced that it was about money. It has certainly cost a great deal of money to make. It’s true that Naming the Money is about how the moneyed classes all over Europe have spent their loot, flaunted their power and wealth by using Africans as slaves. The installation shows how this was disguised and glamourised; they looked like servants or were dressed in the clothes of courtiers, they often provided the entertainment just by looking different and were at their most useful as the greatest conspicuous display of wealth imaginable.

I also thought this installation was about re iterating (sic) the facts and highlighting the immense contribution that Africans have made to the economic foundation of Europe.”

The front of the flyer featured images by Himid from the exhibition, a background of silhouettes of the 100 figures, plus a single figure in the foreground, who appears, bone in hand, to be playing with a leaping dog. The flyer also contained related information about the exhibition - venue, dates, contact information, etc.