The UK is one of only three countries in the world not to have a written constitution. In an ambitious international project exploring trade, democracy and globalisation, Mr Democracy undertook the creation of a UK constitution. Outsourcing content and production to China, the world’s fastest growing economy, artist Oliver Walker imported 1000 specially manufactured plastic toys through the Port of Liverpool that speak the constitution when pressed.

Developed in Shanghai at the East China University of Politics and Law, the constitution offers an insight into the notion of democracy that the West are so keen to export, exploring issues such as human rights, citizenship and nationality from an alternative perspective. The hidden processes of mass production and global trade, so integral to our relationship to China, were documented throughout the project, with a live tracking device at The Royal Standard monitoring the route of the toys as they were shipped across the globe, arriving at the gallery during the Liverpool Biennial 2008.

www.mrdemocracy.org

www.oliverwalker.org