Helen Cammock Video Work Sparks Controversy Regarding Churchill’s Role in 1943 Bengal Famine
Helen Cammock’s 40-minute video Persistence (2025), shown at London’s National Portrait Gallery for nine months, has drawn criticism for a line comparing Oliver Cromwell’s actions in Ireland to the “wilful starvation” of Indians by Winston Churchill during the 1943 Bengal famine. The controversy was amplified by the Telegraph in an article by arts correspondent Craig Simpson, and Churchill biographer Andrew Roberts (Baron Roberts of Belgravia) reportedly called the claim a “barefaced lie” in a letter to the NPG board said to have 50 signatories, including Churchill’s grandson. Defenders dispute Churchill’s responsibility, while a 2019 study cited by the Guardian argued that Churchill-era British policies were a significant contributing factor alongside weather conditions. Cammock responded by emphasizing that the work examines who is honored in portraiture and how histories are constructed, and the NPG stated it commissions artists to create responses to its collection.
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This story was covered in AI Museums, Restitution Heat, and History Wars