Keith Piper & Rex Whistler

In 1926, the director of the National Gallery of British Art (now Tate) commissioned Rex Whistler to produce a mural ‘as decoration for the new refreshment room’. Whistler spent 18 months painting The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats before the gallery restaurant opened in 1927.

Over the years, visitors and staff have raised concerns about the racist imagery included in the mural. In 2013, the work was restored and a booklet accompanying the mural was updated to acknowledge this content. A further text was installed at the entrance of the restaurant in 2018.

The restaurant closed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the status of the mural was brought into question. Tate’s board of trustees agreed that the mural should be preserved as a historic work of art, but a more appropriate viewing context was needed. Artists, art historians, cultural advisors, civic representatives and young creatives contributed to a series of discussions exploring possible next steps. Following these conversations, Tate decided to commission an artist to make work in dialogue with the mural, reframing it for contemporary audiences.

Keith Piper is the first artist to receive the commission. A key figure in the British Black Arts Movement, Piper believes museums have a responsibility to ‘collect and conserve historical objects’.

He comments: ‘We can only fully understand history and all its complexity if we are able to go back and encounter the objects themselves.’ By critically engaging with the mural’s history and content, Piper’s work creates a new space of reflection and discussion. As Director of Tate Britain, Alex Farquharson notes, ‘this approach allows us to reflect the values we hold today and to bring new voices and ideas to the fore’.

This panoramic mural follows an imagined hunting expedition on a journey through European art and architectural styles. It includes racist imagery that speaks to legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and British colonialism.

In 1926, Rex Whistler was commissioned to paint a mural for the refreshment room at the National Gallery of British Art (now Tate). Still a student at London’s Slade School of Fine Art at the time, he was assisted by Katharine Ann (Nan) West (1904–1930). It is one of the few large-scale works Whistler made during his short career and helped build his reputation as a leading mural artist. After volunteering to fight in the Second World War, he was killed in action aged 39.

Whistler’s mural depicts an expedition in search of rare food and drink, led by the fictional Duke of Epicurania. A hunting party sets off from the steps of the gallery. It travels across rivers and seas, through pastoral landscapes and wild forests. The group shoots at leopards and deer and meets unicorns and mermaids. They pass islands topped with Italian cities, encounter shipwrecks and ruins, and visit the Great Wall of China. They return home laden with spoils, greeted by a cheering crowd.

As part of this journey, the group kidnaps a Black child while his naked mother watches from a tree overhead. The Great Wall of China scene includes caricatures of East Asian people. The impact of these racist depictions is compounded by the fact they were designed for a decorative mural in a restaurant. Whistler wanted his work to create the effect of chinoiserie wallpaper. Popular in the 18th century, the style often features imagined and stereotyped representations of East Asian cultures.

Viva Voce credits

Ellen O’Grady, Mrs. Shepherd

Ian Pink, Rex Whistler

Cindy Evans, Edith Olivier

Keith Piper, Director

Jacqueline Malcolm, Director Of Drama

Lauren Gee, Producer

Cameron Martin-Campbell, Production Coordinator

Morgan K Spencer, Director Of Photography

Kat Spencer, Steadicam Operator

Daniel Glazebrook, Focus Puller

Nefeli Dimakea, Second Assistant Camera

Ege Caglar, Second Assistant Camera

Stella Tribe-Smith, Digitial Imaging Technician

Dragos Czinjepolschi, Gaffer

Milena Starkova, Gaffer’s Assistant

Rosa Brooke, Gaffer’s Assistant

Luigi Truscelli, First Spark

Cleo Lim, Second Spark

Bahar Dopran, Sound Recordist

Feline Rahel Monke, Sound Assistant

Karol Malcolm, Costume Designer

Paola Mateeva, Costume Assistant

Andra Anghelache, Costume Assistant

Abra Kennedy, Hair Designer

Adriana Haloiu, Makeup Artist

Saraphina Mattis, Consulting Editor

Anna Barsukova, Colour Grader

Gary Stewart, Sound Designer

Tansy Spinks, Violinist (Variations On Florence Mills)

Lukasz Soltysiak, Studio Sound Recordist

Diane Symons, Additional Research

Middlesex University acknowledgements

Professor Paul Cobley & The Aci Research Committee

Eve Sevume Kauma

Clemente Ruidaz (Mdx Works)

Rob Pickard

Young Yoon (Kyen)

Keith Piper's Viva Voce will be screened with subtitles every other screening. Subtitles will also be available as a paper copy.

Tate Britain's step-free entrance is on Atterbury Street. It has automatic sliding doors and there is a ramp down to the entrance with central handrails. This entrance is on the Lower floor.

The commission is located on the Lower floor near the Rotunda staircase.