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The artist Larry Achiampong was in the middle of a karate class this weekend when he took a break, looked at his phone and realised he was embroiled in a brewing culture war.
A series of news outlets reported that a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II taken by David Bailey had been “ditched” for work by Achiampong, Lubaina Himid and Yinka Shonibare, which took its place in the Foreign Office.
The Telegraph originally reported on David Lammy’s decision to hang the British-Ghanaian’s work, with GB News reporting on the “outrage” the move caused, and the Daily Mail went with the headline: “David Lammy’s Foreign Office ‘removed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in favour of pan-African flags’”.
The work comes from the government art collection (GAC), which is run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and contains thousands of pieces.
It’s routine for new governments to change the work that is hung, but the fact some of the art “appear to reference and critique colonialism” led Reform UK MP Lee Anderson to call Lammy “spineless” and claim “he is forever criticising our history”.
Achiampong’s work, Pan African Flag for the Relic Travellers’ Alliance (Motion) is hanging in the Foreign Office and is a large green, yellow and red design featuring 54 black stars that represent all nation states on the African continent.
Speaking to the Guardian, Achiampong said the coverage of his work was linked to growing anti-immigrant sentiment that elements of the media had exacerbated.
“The fuss over the fact that the queen’s image has been replaced with Pan-African colours speaks to this narrative of ‘immigrants are here, they’re coming over, they’re taking over everything’,” he said, calling the angle of some reporting “deeply problematic”.
The Telegraph reported that Himid’s 2021 work Old Boat, New Weather, which represents “slavery and imperial trade”, sits alongside a small version of Shonibare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a replica of Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory. The original sat on the Fourth Plinth in 2010.
Achiampong added: “They’re not thinking about what Yinka Shonibare, Lubaina Himid or myself have given and devoted to the general public within the UK. We are celebrated and awarded artists that have done incredible things with our work.”
Himid is representing the UK at next year’s Venice Biennale and won the Turner prize in 2017, while Shonibare was nominated for the Turner prize in 2004, became a Royal Academician in 2013 and was awarded a CBE in 2019.
Achiampong’s pan-African flag design also features on the roundel of the Westminster tube stop where it was installed in 2022 by Transport for London.
The British-Ghanaian artist said that the purpose of Pan African Flag For The Relic Travellers’ Alliance (Motion), which was commissioned with support from Arts Council England, was to make people think about nationalism.
“My practice has always been about – in a sense – getting underneath the skin to talk about these issues,” he said. “If that pisses people off, then, in a way, the job’s being done.”
The issue of which portraits and pieces hang in government offices has made headlines since Labour came to power in 2024.
The removal of a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from number ten Downing Street showed Keir Starmer “wants to drag Britain down”, according to former Tory minister John Redwood.
Rachel Reeves was also criticised after she said she intended to replace every painting in the state room at No 11 Downing Street with artworks of or by women.
The Foreign Office was approached for comment.
The DCMS did not provide comment but the Guardian understands that David Bailey’s HM Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) is currently at the GAC.
