SARA SHAMSAVARI

BRITAIN RETOLD- A PORTRAIT OF LONDON

Britain Retold is a body of work which reveals individual perspectives on British identity and how it is perceived within the country’s most international, rapidly changing city, London. 

A range of viewpoints are presented, from diverse cultural backgrounds and are brought together in an aim to create a singular voice.This acts as a combined reflection of the diversity and freedom of speech that unites them as citizens co-existing within London today.

The work was debuted at City Hall in 2011 and has since been developed in to a prototype book. The book consists of intimate portraits that incorporate the symbolism of the union jack-which as an object presents it’s own positive and negative connotations- juxtaposed with statements, forming a strategy by which we can explore and challenge the viewer’s past and current interpretations of what it is to be British.

Britain Retold seeks to open a platform that allows the multi communities in London to begin redefining what it means to be British, moving toward being wholly inclusive and allowing new associations to exist alongside tradition.