Theatres of memory; un-silencing the past–Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ anthology

Abstract

This article discusses Steve McQueen’s collaborations with the BBC to examine how his ‘Small Axe’ anthology of five films represents Black British experiences in Britain, charting discrimination, racially motivated violence, police persecution, and activism for social justice as well as ordinary life. The anthology chronicles events between 1968 to the early 1980s and centres anti-racist activism, resistance struggles, and key debates around Black British subjectivity. From a contemporary twenty-first-century lens, McQueen intervenes in important public debates, refracting them in the context of today, highlighting the ongoing importance and relevance of this history in Britain’s contemporary moment, especially in a time of increased racially motivated violence fuelled by ethno-nationalism. Arguably, through the platform of public service broadcasting, these interventions position McQueen in wider public debates and link him into Black British public intellectual traditions. The article argues that by focusing on key moments and events in Black British history, under-represented in mainstream narratives, and by collaborating with BBC One, McQueen opens up crucial questions about whose history is centred and how these events are opened up to wider public audiences. The article examines how McQueen intervenes in important public debates by centring the margins, and argues that the ‘Small Axe’ anthology challenges received understandings of Britain’s recent past and contributes to necessary conversations around social justice, equality and inclusion, especially important to ongoing debates around citizenship, belonging, and conceptions of Britain.