Tate Britain’s Rex Whistler restaurant could close permanently after its mural depicting enslaved children was labelled ‘offensive’ by the gallery’s ethics committee.
‘The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats’ was commissioned by the Tate in 1926 and covers the restaurant named in honour of the eponymous British artist, who died on the battlefield in the Second World War.
The artwork depicts scenes showing two enslaved black children in ropes, while another which shows caricatured Chinese characters.
Rex Whistler completed the piece aged 23 as a whimsical homage to culinary traditions, and it was restored in 2013 as part of a £45 million refurbishment of the gallery.
But it went under the microscope in July, when the ‘White Pube’ group – described by Vogue magazine as ‘self-styled cowboy critics shaking up the arts establishment’ – slammed ‘rich white people drinking wine with some choice slavery in the background.’
An online petition to ‘remove the racist and harmful mural’, raged: ‘The reality of the room is truly grotesque. Where the older white demographic can go to enjoying their expensive gluttony whilst they view with amusement, a room purposefully painted with chained up black children, dragged along by white people, for a hunt.
‘Sounds more like a concept for a horror film than what you would expect Britain’s largest Art institution to offer up as an exclusive dining experience.’
The criticism sparked a review by the Tate’s ethics committee, lead by then-chair of Moya Greene.
Ms Green, a former Chief Executive Officer of Royal Mail Group, told the gallery board that members were, ‘unequivocal in their view that the imagery of the work is offensive’.
She added, ‘the offence is compounded by the use of the room as a restaurant’.
The flagship Grade-I listed dining room, which is frequented by politicians and art critics, is now under pressure to close.
The Rex Whistler restaurant is draped in a specially commissioned mural by the eponymous British artist
!['The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats' depicts scenes showing two enslaved black children in ropes](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/08/10/36586952-9029783-image-a-99_1607424699485.jpg?resize=634%2C641&ssl=1)
‘The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats’ depicts scenes showing two enslaved black children in ropes
![The mural went under the microscope in July, when the 'White Pube' critics group drew attention to it. In an angry Instagram, the group raged: 'How do these rich white people still choose to go there to drink from 'the capital's finest wine cellars' with some choice slavery in the background?'](https://i1.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/08/12/36589484-9029783-image-a-110_1607429426151.jpg?resize=634%2C415&ssl=1)
The mural went under the microscope in July, when the ‘White Pube’ critics group drew attention to it. In an angry Instagram, the group raged: ‘How do these rich white people still choose to go there to drink from ‘the capital’s finest wine cellars’ with some choice slavery in the background?’
![After the White Pubes group slammed the mural in the summer, MP Diane Abott suggested the Tate move the restaurant](https://i2.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/08/12/36589408-9029783-After_the_White_Pubes_group_slammed_the_mural_in_the_summer_MP_D-m-109_1607429326698.jpg?resize=634%2C436&ssl=1)
After the White Pubes group slammed the mural in the summer, MP Diane Abott suggested the Tate move the restaurant
The Rex Whistler Restaurant has been closed since the Covid-19 outbreak in March and will remain shut until Autumn 2021 amid doubts over visitor numbers.
But speculation is now rife that the restaurant could remain closed indefinitely.
‘The Expedition in Pursuit of Rare Meats’ looks at seven explorers travelling by horse and cart and bicycles to save their people from living on dry biscuits.
But it also depicts scenes showing two enslaved black children in ropes, while another which shows caricatured Chinese characters.
The mural lead to the restaurant being labelled ‘the most amusing room in Europe’ when it opened in 1927 and became one of Whistler’s most renowned pieces.
Whistler was killed leading his tank into action on his first day of active service in the Second World War.
The White Pube group was founded by art students Gabrielle de la Puente, from Liverpool, and Zarina Muhamma, from London.
On their website, they say they joined forces ‘after a chat about exhibition reviews and how they were boringggg, said nothing, just bad chat by middle class white men.’
After the group slammed the mural in the summer, MP Diane Abott suggested the Tate move the restaurant.
She tweeted: ‘I have eaten in Rex Whistler restaurant at Tate Britain. Had no idea famous mural had repellent images of black slaves.
‘Museum management need to move the restaurant. Nobody should be eating surrounded by imagery of black slaves.’
In August, Tate Britain removed a reference to the Rex Whistler restaurant as ‘the most amusing room in Europe’ following complaints about the mural.
In response, the Tate said it was, ‘important to acknowledge the presence of offensive and unacceptable content and its relationship to racist and imperialist attitudes in the 1920s and today.
The gallery added in a statement: ‘Tate has been open and transparent about the deeply problematic racist imagery in the Rex Whistler mural. In the context of the Mayor of London’s recently announced public realm review, Tate’s establishment of a race equality taskforce, and the ongoing work of our Ethics Committee, we are continuing to actively discuss how best to address the mural and we will keep the public updated over the coming months.
‘Having been commissioned for the restaurant walls in 1927, the mural was one of the artist’s most significant works and is part of a Grade I listed historic interior.
‘But it is important to acknowledge the presence of offensive and unacceptable content and its relationship to racist and imperialist attitudes in the 1920s and today. The interpretation text on the wall alongside the mural and on the website addresses this directly as part of our ongoing work to confront such histories, a process that goes hand in hand with championing a more inclusive story of British art and identity today.’
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaigners published a Topple The Racists map in June which included the founder of the Tate Gallery.
The industrialist Henry Tate, while not a slave owner or slave trader, made his fortune as a sugar refiner – an industry built on the foundations of slavery.
Days later, the gallery pledged a ‘commitment to combating racism’.
A spokesman for the gallery told MailOnline: ‘The fine dining restaurants at Tate Modern and Tate Britain both remain closed until at least autumn 2021.
‘As reported in the summer, we are taking this time to consult internally and externally on the future of the room and the mural, and we will keep the public informed of future plans.’
![In June, the Tate Modern gallery in London (pictured), pledged a 'commitment to combating racism'](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/08/10/36586964-9029783-image-a-102_1607424876473.jpg?resize=634%2C422&ssl=1)
In June, the Tate Modern gallery in London (pictured), pledged a ‘commitment to combating racism’
In a statement at the height of the BLM movement, the Tate said: ‘The founding of our gallery and the building of its collection are intimately connected to Britain’s colonial past, and we know there are uncomfortable images, ideas and histories in the past 500 years of art which need to be acknowledged and explored.
‘We also recognise the connection between our commitment to address the climate emergency and actions to combat social inequalities. This includes the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and class in the experience of inequality.
‘We have a stated objective to become a more inclusive institution that reflects the world we live in now. But progress has not been fast or significant enough, so we are taking a number of actions in response.’
In a leaked letter in September, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that Government-funded museums and galleries risk losing taxpayer support if they remove artefacts.
Recipients included the British Museum, Tate galleries, Imperial War museums, National Portrait Gallery, National Museums Liverpool, the Royal Armouries, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Library.