La Bouche du Roi

Romuald Hazoumé (born 1962)

British Museum

1997-2000

La Bouche du Roi is a multi-media installation, the main components of which are 304 'masks' made from black plastic petrol cans, a CD of sounds and voices, and a short film detailing the lives of motorcyclists who run petrol between Bénin and Nigeria, a form of modern day slavery. The shape of the installation is based on a famous 18th-century print of the British slave ship, the Brookes, a model of which Wilberforce used in his campaign for abolition. The artist uses cans to suggest the bodies of slaves portrayed in the print.

• Medium: oil drums, plastic, glass, shells, tobacco, fabrics, mirrors, metal
• Dimensions: 10 x 2.9cm
• Grant Paid: £30,000 ( Total: £100,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2006
• Vendor: Elisabeth Lalouscheck

Provenance

The artist; The October Gallery.

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