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February 4, 2026
‘It’s about hurling yourself into the unknown’: Charmaine Watkiss on turning a UK museum upside down
The artist’s work resurfaces skills and knowledge that colonialism buried. She explains how her drawings and sculpture weave botanical illustration and traditional craft to engage with generational trauma
TL;DR
- Charmaine Watkiss creates art exploring the botanical knowledge of enslaved Africans and its transmission through the diaspora.
- Her work often features women of African descent alongside medicinal plants, evoking historical botanical illustrations.
- Watkiss was commissioned to create new work for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, responding to its West Africa display and the diaspora's missing narrative.
- She experimented with sculpture for the first time, inspired by Kuba kingdom mukenga helmet masks from the museum's collection.
- Watkiss previously held research fellowships at the Sloane Lab, examining the knowledge of healing plants collected by enslaved Africans.
- Her work at the National Portrait Gallery reimagines a healer from Hans Sloane's writings, centering her in the narrative.
- The artist discusses the complexities and generational trauma associated with legacies of race and enslavement within Western museological collections.
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