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Central Library |
Wonder Under is inspired by the ancient sea life of Africa, referencing both the bountiful beauty of sea flora and a celebration of the African sea goddesses who reside there. The work here is about the dual nature of water; its abilities to renew and cleanse, alongside its capacity to destroy and take away anything in its way. With Mother Africa being the birthplace of humanity, we enter into the waters that hold the imprint memory of all time and all that has passed through it.
A layered sea map, connecting and overlapping boundary lines, with reference to the movement of people and these complex layers of history. As we navigate through the unknown waters, the essence of healing is reflected through the work within the colours chosen.
The figures within the work reveal themselves the closer you look, immersed within their surroundings, and very much part of it. The waters allow us to re-enter this space of wonder, and contain everything, enabling us to let go of anything we hold onto, whether that be trauma or desire; the water washes it away, as the sea goddesses take us on a journey of rediscovery.
A Margate-based multidisciplinary artist with a strong focus on large-scale paintings, both indoors and outside. The work can be described as both figurative and socially surreal. Catherine also works with sound and moving image in a collage type of way, connecting footage/sound at random.
Wonder Under is inspired by the ancient sea life of Africa, referencing both the bountiful beauty of sea flora and a celebration of the African sea goddesses who reside there. The work here is about the dual nature of water; its abilities to renew and cleanse, alongside its capacity to destroy and take away anything in its way. With Mother Africa being the birthplace of humanity, we enter into the waters that hold the imprint memory of all time and all that has passed through it.
A layered sea map, connecting and overlapping boundary lines, with reference to the movement of people and these complex layers of history. As we navigate through the unknown waters, the essence of healing is reflected through the work within the colours chosen.
The figures within the work reveal themselves the closer you look, immersed within their surroundings, and very much part of it. The waters allow us to re-enter this space of wonder, and contain everything, enabling us to let go of anything we hold onto, whether that be trauma or desire; the water washes it away, as the sea goddesses take us on a journey of rediscovery.
A Margate-based multidisciplinary artist with a strong focus on large-scale paintings, both indoors and outside. The work can be described as both figurative and socially surreal. Catherine also works with sound and moving image in a collage type of way, connecting footage/sound at random.
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The Rialto |
Amber Akaunu (b.1996) is a Liverpool born Nigerian-German filmmaker working in cinema, art, and tv to document and explore Black culture, identity, and history. Amber is a BAFTA scholar and recent MA film graduate who is currently residing in South London. Her creative practice extends to her role as co-founder and editor of ROOT-ed Zine where she works to support Black, Asian and PoC artists in the North West of England through publishing, workshops, guest lectures, curating, and producing.
Amber Akaunu (b.1996) is a Liverpool born Nigerian-German filmmaker working in cinema, art, and tv to document and explore Black culture, identity, and history. Amber is a BAFTA scholar and recent MA film graduate who is currently residing in South London. Her creative practice extends to her role as co-founder and editor of ROOT-ed Zine where she works to support Black, Asian and PoC artists in the North West of England through publishing, workshops, guest lectures, curating, and producing.
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Liverpool Cathedral |
Palace Of The Peacock is a homage to the enslaved women who resisted enslavement by the use of poison.
I came across the work of botanist Maria Sibylla Merian – who travelled to the Dutch Guianas in the 1700s – and amongst her beautiful drawings and descriptions of the flora and fauna of Suriname, was a short passage describing the peacock flower. I was struck by both the beauty and tragedy of this unexpected passage - especially the language used – that the enslaved women were ‘threatening’ to refuse to have children. They understood the value of their bodies, hence their refusal to enrich the pockets of slave owners by way of the suffering of their children.
Uncovering the complicated history of women’s agency of their own bodies under chattel enslavement, this piece aims to draw in viewers through the use of the bright beauty of the peacock flower. Interwoven between the peacock flower lies two key elements, the cassava flower, which was a plant root used to create another poison used by the enslaved to poison their masters in resistance. An integral element of the diet of enslaved on plantations, its natural accessibility gave the opportunity for enslaved to take control over their own lives by way of poison.
The second element interwoven into the flowers is the names of enslaved people across the Caribbean who were executed in brutal and horrific ways for poisoning their masters. Instances where these people risked death in the hopes of freedom, even if it is freedom of choice over their bodies. The title of the piece comes from the novel by Guyanese writer Wilson Harris, which tells the story of a woman who escapes from the clutches of a cruel European colonist.
This globe aims to be dichotomous through the beauty of the bright and joyous flowers, with the tragedy and triumph of these women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest for freedom.
Fiona Compton is a London based Saint Lucian photographer, artist, filmmaker and historian. After graduating from London College of Printing in 2005 with a BA in photography, Fiona has been working as a professional photographer, working for the UK’s largest publishing houses, travelling between the UK and Europe to photograph some of the most influential figures in the world of Finance and Banking. Over the past 13 years her work has explored the various disparities in representation of the Afro Caribbean diaspora within art and mainstream media. In 2017 she launched her multi disciplinary project ‘The Revolution of the Fairytale’ which celebrates lesser known heroes from Black History under the nostalgic platform of well known fairy tales. Fiona remains a strong advocate for her history and culture and is an Official Ambassador for London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the second largest street festival in the world.
Palace Of The Peacock is a homage to the enslaved women who resisted enslavement by the use of poison.
I came across the work of botanist Maria Sibylla Merian – who travelled to the Dutch Guianas in the 1700s – and amongst her beautiful drawings and descriptions of the flora and fauna of Suriname, was a short passage describing the peacock flower. I was struck by both the beauty and tragedy of this unexpected passage - especially the language used – that the enslaved women were ‘threatening’ to refuse to have children. They understood the value of their bodies, hence their refusal to enrich the pockets of slave owners by way of the suffering of their children.
Uncovering the complicated history of women’s agency of their own bodies under chattel enslavement, this piece aims to draw in viewers through the use of the bright beauty of the peacock flower. Interwoven between the peacock flower lies two key elements, the cassava flower, which was a plant root used to create another poison used by the enslaved to poison their masters in resistance. An integral element of the diet of enslaved on plantations, its natural accessibility gave the opportunity for enslaved to take control over their own lives by way of poison.
The second element interwoven into the flowers is the names of enslaved people across the Caribbean who were executed in brutal and horrific ways for poisoning their masters. Instances where these people risked death in the hopes of freedom, even if it is freedom of choice over their bodies. The title of the piece comes from the novel by Guyanese writer Wilson Harris, which tells the story of a woman who escapes from the clutches of a cruel European colonist.
This globe aims to be dichotomous through the beauty of the bright and joyous flowers, with the tragedy and triumph of these women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest for freedom.
Fiona Compton is a London based Saint Lucian photographer, artist, filmmaker and historian. After graduating from London College of Printing in 2005 with a BA in photography, Fiona has been working as a professional photographer, working for the UK’s largest publishing houses, travelling between the UK and Europe to photograph some of the most influential figures in the world of Finance and Banking. Over the past 13 years her work has explored the various disparities in representation of the Afro Caribbean diaspora within art and mainstream media. In 2017 she launched her multi disciplinary project ‘The Revolution of the Fairytale’ which celebrates lesser known heroes from Black History under the nostalgic platform of well known fairy tales. Fiona remains a strong advocate for her history and culture and is an Official Ambassador for London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the second largest street festival in the world.
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College Lane, Liverpool ONE |
There is a dark cloud at the top of this globe representing the pain and suffering of Africans, forcibly uprooted from their homes and enslaved. It also represents the dark cloud hanging over our history; how the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans has been historically misrepresented and Britain's significant role in the trade’s creation. The rain has been created using cotton threads dipped in paint and then printed onto the globe, highlighting the use of slavery within the cotton industry.
The numbers around the globe show the estimated numbers of people taken and enslaved from the different regions of Africa. The colour purple has been used because in the Catholic Church it represents sorrow and suffering and here it highlights the church’s role in slavery.
There are four hundred swallows on the globe representing the four hundred year span of the trade in enslaved Africans. Swallows migrate across the Atlantic and thousands die on the journey due to exhaustion and starvation. However swallows are also often depicted as a symbol of hope, and as you walk around the globe the colours turn to lighter tones reflecting hope for a brighter future and for racial justice and equality.
Caroline is an artist from Manchester with a background in Theatre Design, who is often inspired by wildlife and prefers to work by hand using traditional mediums. Her murals and paintings can be seen on public walls, shop fronts, shutters and sculptures within Greater Manchester and her fine art prints are sold in many gift shops and galleries in the UK. Caroline also enjoys working as an arts facilitator providing a whole host of art workshops for young people and community groups within the North West of England, specialising in mural painting and willow lantern making for community festivals and parades.
There is a dark cloud at the top of this globe representing the pain and suffering of Africans, forcibly uprooted from their homes and enslaved. It also represents the dark cloud hanging over our history; how the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans has been historically misrepresented and Britain's significant role in the trade’s creation. The rain has been created using cotton threads dipped in paint and then printed onto the globe, highlighting the use of slavery within the cotton industry.
The numbers around the globe show the estimated numbers of people taken and enslaved from the different regions of Africa. The colour purple has been used because in the Catholic Church it represents sorrow and suffering and here it highlights the church’s role in slavery.
There are four hundred swallows on the globe representing the four hundred year span of the trade in enslaved Africans. Swallows migrate across the Atlantic and thousands die on the journey due to exhaustion and starvation. However swallows are also often depicted as a symbol of hope, and as you walk around the globe the colours turn to lighter tones reflecting hope for a brighter future and for racial justice and equality.
Caroline is an artist from Manchester with a background in Theatre Design, who is often inspired by wildlife and prefers to work by hand using traditional mediums. Her murals and paintings can be seen on public walls, shop fronts, shutters and sculptures within Greater Manchester and her fine art prints are sold in many gift shops and galleries in the UK. Caroline also enjoys working as an arts facilitator providing a whole host of art workshops for young people and community groups within the North West of England, specialising in mural painting and willow lantern making for community festivals and parades.
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Martin Luther King Jr Building |
I chose the theme of Abolition and Emancipation because I was inspired by the story of the Palenque people from San Basilio de Palenque, a small town in Columbia.
I was reading Emma Dabiri’s ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’, and was struck by the power of the story of how hair was used as a tool to help the enslaved find the free land that was founded by Benkos Bioho. Plaiting and braiding was used as part of an ingenious way to map the location of Palenque; the enslaved couldn’t risk writing the information down, so they hid it in plain sight. The plantation owners had no idea that the hairstyles were a form of communication which eventually led to their freedom. They would escape in groups of four and would put grains of rice in their hair so that once they arrived they could plant their own crops.
I tried to include these elements into my design, which represents a birds eye view of the four heads of enslaved people joined together and forming a map. The partings are the roads and there are rice grains tucked into the image just as it would have been tucked into their hair. The black background represents the night, as I imagine that would have been when they chose to escape.
The contrast between black and white also represents the state of the world at the time – a metaphor for the extreme racial division. The globe is designed so that wherever you stand you will see four heads joined to form a map, like a compass rose, allowing the people to find their own way to freedom.
Nicola is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice focuses on using materiality as a storytelling tool to create philosophical narratives commenting on socially conscious issues in everyday life.
I chose the theme of Abolition and Emancipation because I was inspired by the story of the Palenque people from San Basilio de Palenque, a small town in Columbia.
I was reading Emma Dabiri’s ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’, and was struck by the power of the story of how hair was used as a tool to help the enslaved find the free land that was founded by Benkos Bioho. Plaiting and braiding was used as part of an ingenious way to map the location of Palenque; the enslaved couldn’t risk writing the information down, so they hid it in plain sight. The plantation owners had no idea that the hairstyles were a form of communication which eventually led to their freedom. They would escape in groups of four and would put grains of rice in their hair so that once they arrived they could plant their own crops.
I tried to include these elements into my design, which represents a birds eye view of the four heads of enslaved people joined together and forming a map. The partings are the roads and there are rice grains tucked into the image just as it would have been tucked into their hair. The black background represents the night, as I imagine that would have been when they chose to escape.
The contrast between black and white also represents the state of the world at the time – a metaphor for the extreme racial division. The globe is designed so that wherever you stand you will see four heads joined to form a map, like a compass rose, allowing the people to find their own way to freedom.
Nicola is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice focuses on using materiality as a storytelling tool to create philosophical narratives commenting on socially conscious issues in everyday life.
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