Hidden Heritage

Reviewed by: Sadek Hamid – University of Wales Trinity St. David

Published by: London: Vintage, 2022, 304pp. ISBN: 978-1529110951.

The author of this book asks a number of intriguing questions: Why was there a Turkish mosque in Britain’s most famous botanic garden in the eighteenth century? How did a pair of Persian-inscribed cannons end up in rural Wales? And who is the Moroccan man depicted in a long-forgotten portrait hanging in a West London stately home? Examining the origins of paintings, drawings, carvings and statues in Britain’s galleries, museums, and civic buildings offer clues to discovering a largely unknown past. This rich heritage, often hidden in plain sight, conceals a certain Oriental influence on pre-twentieth-century Britain. The term ‘Orient’ is deliberately used throughout the text in full knowledge of its association with the Imperial enterprise referred to as Orientalism. The author suggests an ambivalence in its usage for cultural artefacts discussed in the book were “acquired or built – often simultaneously in a performance of appreciation of the Orient and its cultures, and as part of a political project to dominate the regions and their peoples.”

Fatima Manji, broadcaster and former Channel 4 News presenter, searches for a more nuanced and honest account of the legacy of Empire through a diverse array of objects that remain with us today. Manji argues that, as a nation, Britain suffers from historical amnesia and rightly notes, “a whitewashed presentation of history directly affects how Britons today perceive the people, buildings and languages of the Orient.” Manji makes a welcome contribution to increasing public literacy of such issues in her journey through this hidden heritage in our nation’s public buildings, many of which were built from the proceeds of colonial cruelty. The rediscovery of this diverse cultural inheritance also undermines popular narratives about the presence of “foreigners,” and point to a more complicated national history than is commonly remembered.