With this piece I wanted to address an erasure that was embodied by the presence of the Chardin & Boy portrait.
The unnamed child in the Chardin portrait was never given a name, just as the contributions of African and African diasporic people to the History of Science were not named in this museum.
Names give humanity and acknowledgement, they encourage empathy.
The old portrait was not interested in that. The painting that hung in this museum for nearly seventy years was here because of the navigational instruments depicted on the frame. The suffering depicted in Boy's image was less significant than the gold surrounding it.
I kept the frame deliberately. The frames placed around us by others decide our narratives if we accept them. I wanted to show that the frame can be changed - that we can navigate our way out of it.
Boy now holds a proclamation of unity instead of borders drawn on another man's map.
We Are. All of us. Many things. Many possibilities. We Are all of it.
The frame is now filled, not with tears, restraints and oppression, but with smiles, freedom and expression that spills outside of its boundaries. Boy is a fictive character that once represented the realities of millions of human beings.
Through We Are, his story is now about claiming a future filled with joy and companionship.
A future that extends beyond the edges of someone else's frame.
Rawz
Rawz shared with us the story of his collaboration with representatives from communities in Oxford — both scholars from Oxford University's BME staff network and children from the local Sudanese school:
I wanted to celebrate black scientists and the massive contributions to science that have been made by all people — not just Europeans. So I got in touch with the black staff network in Oxford University and they put out a call asking for people to share photos with me. And a lot of contemporary scientists contributed their picture.
When I’m working with the University of Oxford as an institution, I always want to recognise that it's just one part of the city of Oxford - I think many people get the impression that Oxford is just a university. That’s why I wanted to include people who live here in the picture, not just academics.
So I did a couple of workshops with the local Sudanese School. We went into the Museum, the children took pictures of some of the objects on their phones, and I helped them create their own digital responses to those objects.
I took pictures of the children as well, and a lot of those images appear in We Are. I really wanted to capture a genuine smile, so I was telling them a little joke or just being silly with them while I took the picture.
I also got them to write things about themselves, like scientists or sciences they're interested in, things they like to do — or just their names or little messages. I incorporated those into the frame because I wanted to change the ownership of the frame.
The message in Latin at the top of the frame reads, "Gloria Deo in Excelsis” (Glory to God in the highest) followed by the name: John Chardin.
So I've changed it to "Glory to God in the highest: We Are”. Now it’s a statement that glorifies not just one person, but all of us.
You're not constrained by how people see you — how people frame you. You can choose how you want to be framed.
Rawz
We Are (community portrait with scroll), 2023
Mixed media installation: digital photo collage, printed text, decorative pattern, and painted frame motif
Set within a historical display context, this work stages a vivid encounter between portraiture, text, and ornament.
A densely layered array of photographic faces is gathered inside an elaborate, gold-framed image field, interrupted by a cascading scroll-like form that suggests proclamation, testimony, or archive.
The black-and-white patterned border amplifies the work’s graphic energy, while its placement among museum objects invites a dialogue between lived experience and institutional history.
Drawing on the visual languages of collage, assemblage, and text-based contemporary art, the piece transforms the conventions of formal portrait display into something more communal and contemporary.
Rather than presenting a single sitter, it constructs a collective presence ... one that feels celebratory, assertive, and self-authored.
WE ARE
SCIENTISTS
WE ARE ASTRONAUTS, SOCIOLOGISTS
PHILOSOPHERS AND PHARMACISTS
FARMERS, ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND TEACHERS
WE ARE MATHEMATICIANS AND
PHYSIOTHERAPISTS
ETHNOGRAPHERS, AND EXPERTS IN THE STUDY
OF BIODIVERSITY
WE ARE
SONS
WE ARE DAUGHTERS
WE ARE AUNTIES
WE ARE UNCLES
WE ARE GRANDMOTHERS
GRANDFATHERS
COUSINS
NEPHEWS
NIECES
FATHERS
MOTHERS
SISTERS
BROTHERS
AND BEST FRIENDS
WE ARE
FAMILY
WE ARE
SCIENTISTS, ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, ACTORS,
POLICE OFFICERS, CAMPAIGNERS, ACTIVISTS,
ACADEMICS, ARCHIVISTS AND ANATOMISTS
WE ARE
AUTODIDACTIC, FORMALLY EDUCATED,
HURT, SYMPATHISED WITH, LOVED,
UNLOVED, SAD, HAPPY, HATED,
CONFIDENT, UNDERWHELMED, PLAYFUL,
FURIOUS, CONFUSED, AMAZED, EXHILARATED,
VICTORIOUS, BUSY, TIRED, ACCEPTED,
ANXIOUS, ENTERTAINED, IGNORED,
QUESTIONED, STRESSED, POWERFUL, FREE,
OPTIMISITIC, OVERWHELMED, INTERESTED,
PROUD, CREATIVE, BITTER, GIVING,
ROBBED, HOPEFUL, UNDER PRESSURE,
RUSHED, INDIFFERENT, LET DOWN,
HUMILIATED, REVERED, CRUSHED,
INCORPORATED, DEMONISED, COPIED,
MAGNIFICENT, ORDINARY, OBSCURE, WELL
KNOWN, NOTORIOUS, NOURISHED, STARVED,
SCARRED, REPACED AND IRREPLACEABLE.
WE ARE ALL THESE THINGS.
AND WE ARE MORE.
WE ARE
WE ARE
