The scrapbook's scalpelled pages will never be found but they articulate in their absence the political and economic relations of that society and of ours. While Tate can never be fully inclusive of peoples' histories that may have run counter to its own, it can at least be a site of critical participation in the present history of cultural cosmetics of these islands. Following the links produces a history of Britain told in terms of the slave trade and colonisation with the dates paralleling the development of the Tate s national collection. Each succeeding social elite must have its art, its brand around which secret codes and systems of value can be exchanged. This is usually in the form of what is to be tolerated and what is not, what's in and what's out, who's in and who's out.
New money needs to be part of history.
With money you can buy your way into art history. With even more money you can shape the future of that history. And they conclude with a neat description of their view of art and their interest in engaging with it in summarising the collection of the Liverpool Tate. This construction of the British National taste is much more than a simple pointer to the biological or cultural sameness of the nation. It is a construction of the British social imagination, mapped onto geographical regions and increasingly technological sites.