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Awards bestowed
for dastardly deeds
MEDALS OF DISHONOUR
British Museum
MEDALS are usually handed out to celebrate heroic deeds.
In war, sport and work, they are an indisputable honour.
But what if they were given out for bad behaviour?
A new exhibition at the British Museum exposes the dark underside of medals to showcase the phenomenon of the gong of dishonour.
Since as far back as 1588, there has been a tribe of artistic medal makers who have set out not to praise and reward, but to mock, sneer and abuse.
Among those on display is a medal which shows the Spanish navy capsizing during the Armada with the spoof misquotation of Caesar “Veni, Vidi, Vivi” and another called the “Hutton Award”, given to Tony Blair.
So as well as historical artefacts, the exhibition includes artworks specially commissioned from contemporary artists, with subjects ripe for mockery, such as the war in Iraq, consumerism, Asbos and the green movement. Medals of Dishonour should come with a health warning though, because you have to squint and nose press to get up close to them.
Perhaps a magnifying glass would come in handy.
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