Faces of enslaved people focus of exhibition

The artist has created imagined representations of enslaved people listed within historical records

A new exhibition is set to open in Hull reflecting on the transatlantic slave trade.

Artist Deanio X has produced a series of artworks in response to research carried out by the Wilberforce Institute.

The exhibition, entitled To Heal a Butterfly, includes portraiture, digital animation and sculptures.

It opens on Saturday at the Wilberforce House Museum on High Street and runs until 23 April 2025.

'Shared history'

In 2023, Deanio X was one of ten artists commissioned by King Charles to create portraits of pioneering members of the Windrush Generation.

In this exhibition, the artist has created imagined representations of enslaved people listed within the Sea Island and Jamaica records.

The artwork, described as a "homage to the philosophical significance" of traditional West African symbols, will temporarily replace historical paintings in the museum.

Robin Diaper, curator at Hull Museums, described the exhibition as "thought-provoking".

"There are many different perspectives and ways of viewing the complicated and challenging history of slavery [and] Deanio’s work will provide a new way of looking at this shared history," he said.

Dr Nick Evans, from the Wilberforce Institute, a research centre for the University of Hull, added: "Art has an important role in communicating the brutality of Britain's slavery past to new audiences."

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