"Tiff Oben's gloriously subtle "Chavette"" Motorcade Flash Parade

Along with Broadmeadow's piece, there was also a more implicit performance to counterbalance this explicit display. Tiff Oben's 'Chavette'seesher dressed up as a member of the self- prophesying underclass. She skulks the room, looking like she is waiting for someone to turn up, or maybe to blend into the background enough so that she can steal someone's mobile phone. Please do pardon me for being your stereotypical art- going snob, but this delicate display had me at one point wondering whether this was actually a performance or someone who had got lost on the way to Knowle West. This isn't to say that Oben was a victim of her own success, but it rather shows the whole point of Oben's achievement: the underprivileged have indeed become the objects of fear and ridicule in the national psyche, and my attitude towards her only goes to show that her successful piece raises important questions about identity, ignorance and prejudice.

Joâo Morais