Skip to content

Art exhibition aims to address 'ignored histories'

Lucy Tegg
BBC News, Bristol
Jessica Ashman The image shows a number of the artworks in the Bristol exhibition by Jessica Ashman. One shows a woman kneeling amongs some plants with the suns setting behind her. The second, an image of a woman entwined with vegetation, with images of what look like seeds with humans inside, and the third is of a person in a tree and another kneeling on the ground beneath.Jessica Ashman
'Afiba', 'Datura', Juba' and 'The Rhizosphere' are among the artworks on display

An exhibition aimed at "decolonising" historical artefacts has opened in Bristol.

Artist Jessica Ashman has been working with Bristol Museum & Art Gallery's collection, researching archives and exploring specimens.

She has produced a new art installation, called "Those that do not smile will kill me: Decolonising Jamaican Flora".

Ms Ashman said: "It's about addressing these ignored histories, or stories which are attached to how an object was collected or who it originally belonged to, because, when you collect these objects from these institutions or acquire these objects somehow, they're ripped away from their true meaning."

Jessica Ashman Jessica Ashman is looking into the camera, with an unsmiling face. She is wearing red glasses, gold ring earrings and a blue turtle neck jumper. You can see some of her artwork in the background of the image.Jessica Ashman
Jessica Ashman's exhibition will be on display in Bristol until the end of July

Ms Ashman has been researching the collections of two 18th Century biologists, whose artefacts are held in the museum.

Arthur Broughton, who was from Bristol, gathered specimens in Jamaica in the late 1700s and his herbarium is a resource for study of the botany on the island.

Priest John Lindsay settled in Jamaica in 1758. He produced an illustrated manuscript, depicting local flora and fauna.

Both men relied on the knowledge of Africans enslaved on the island to assist them in their work.

Jessica Ashman A bright artwork, with a girl appearing to sit on a tree branch, with fruit beneath her. The sea is visible behind her in the background.Jessica Ashman
Jessica's work aims to change how people may view museum exhibits

Ms Ashman said: "In the context of my research, it was more 'OK, these were men, on an island subjected to slavery', and they were profiting from that time.

"These drawings, these dried flowers are a product of that time. So, whatever else was happening, it wasn't as innocent as 'oh, I really like botany'."

The exhibition is on display at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery until 27 July.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

More on this story
Related Internet Links