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In recent years, commissioned artists have been sent to Northern Ireland (Ken Howard, 1973, 1977); the Falkland Islands (Linda Kitson, 1982); the Gulf (John Keane, 1991); Bosnia (Peter Howson, 1993) and Kosovo (Graham Fagen, 1999/2000); Afghanistan (Paul Seawright/Langlands & Bell, 2002); and most recently, Steve McQueen was sent to Iraq (2003). (2)

For McQueen to create significant work in response to the war in Iraq is easier said than done. In late 2003 he visited the war zone and spoke with British troops in and around Basra. However, plans to film in Baghdad were disrupted by the security situation. Such practical limitations were no doubt compounded by creative considerations. For what can an artist create that differs substantially from the work of Victorian artist-reporters, or contemporary media professionals like photojournalists or editorial cartoonists? And what can an artist learn about a complex war situation after a brief visit, under official supervision? Not a lot, feared Nico Israel, whose 2004 article for Artforum about artists in Iraq specifically mentions McQueen’s lightning tour:

Given McQueen’s filmic track record, he will almost surely produce
something provocative and weighty, but can McQueen really learn that
much more in seven days “on site,” in the presence of Defence Ministry
representatives, than, say, George W. Bush can learn talking turkey
with US servicemen? (3)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

He concludes:

Is tourism-as-art … part of the same set of forces as art-as-tourism
(biennials, fairs, etc.) with the same power structures undergirding
them? If so, the more difficult subsequent question–how and whether
it is possible to avoid being embedded, either as a tourist, artist,
or journalist (even art journalist)–remains to be answered. (4)
That McQueen managed to subsequently produce something “provocative and weighty,” despite the multiple problems outlined above, is worth further examination and discussion.

QUEEN AND COUNTRY

After the short, abortive trip to Iraq, McQueen returned home to Amsterdam. There, he came up with a new idea that did not require extended time in the war zone: an installation based around commemorative stamps for British soldiers who had lost their lives in the conflict. Called “Queen and Country,” the work was completed in 2006. It is neither journalism nor “tourism-as-art.” Rather, it is challenging, contemporary art, informed by current debates, but by no means “difficult” for those who do not inhabit the art world.

With the aid of a researcher, McQueen contacted 115 bereaving families, explaining his project. Eventually, ninety-eight families supplied photographic portraits of their sons and daughters in uniform that were made into stamps, complete with the standard silhouette of the queen in the top right-hand corner. Digitally printed sheets of the perforated works were subsequently put into forty-nine vertical sliding drawers with each one containing two sheets. The ninety-eight sheets are presented chronologically and stored in an oak cabinet in a way that evokes the presentation of rare stamps in the British Museum. The project was initially shown in the impressive Great Hall in the Central Library in Manchester as part of the city’s International Festival in 2007, followed by an exhibition at the IWM.