Artist in Residence Habib Hajallie is responding to Faces of Fame at Watts Gallery. Here, in his own words he discusses his motivations, mediums and making.

My practice looks to champion figures from ethnically diverse backgrounds that have conspicuously been omitted from traditional British portraiture. Through the exploration of identity within my ballpoint pen portraits; I look to confront socio-political issues apropos to the perception of various demographics as being of lesser human value. Specifically, with minority groups often being further marginalised by mainstream media, reflecting an archaic hierarchy of status emblematic of colonial ideologies.

Within my work, I strive to rectify the historic lack of visibility of figures from ethnic minority backgrounds. Therefore, questioning preconceived notions regarding what it means to be quintessentially British, as well as the uncomfortable nuances that are associated with this, is imperative for me. Though born in South East London, my drawings are often informed by my Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage. By calling upon anecdotal references to portray scenes that are occasionally quasi-surrealist representations; my drawings look to confront lingering ethnocentrisms that are still embedded within modern western society.

Using antique texts and maps as the canvases for my drawings enables me to pragmatically re-contextualise ephemera, creating a cohesion between the concepts informing the work and the aesthetic output. As I empower various figures; I simultaneously do so with the ground used, presenting them within new contexts. Placing myself or family members as the subjects of my portraits evokes a sense of immediacy, apropos to navigating the intersection of my western upbringing and familial West African culture.

By specialising in the use of a monochrome medium such as the black ballpoint pen to celebrate Blackness, allows me to somewhat paradoxically, show that there is more to an individual than just the colour of their skin. I employ delicate mark making techniques with precise strokes of the everyday ballpoint pen. Through an almost contradictory approach of using this relatively modern art medium with a classical approach - this process, influenced by sketches from the high renaissance, enables me to celebrate authentic drawing within the digital age.

I depict motifs that challenge largely accepted revisionist narratives apropos to West African histories, with semblances of antiquated ideologies at the root of nuanced prejudices that I have experienced. Ultimately, my work looks to catalyse a discourse and embolden individuals that feel as though they have been labelled as the ‘other’ in any manifestation.

‘Salone’ is a colloquial term for Sierra Leone. This diptych looks to celebrate the somewhat obscure great pioneering tribal leaders of Sierra Leone from the 16th and 17th century; whilst explicitly contrasting such figures with the condemned leaders of the rebel army that led to a decade of atrocities during the Sierra Leone civil war which shook the nation to the core. Within this quasi-surrealist self portrait diptych, I have recreated two ‘coat of arms’ which embody notions of pride, unity and prosperity with that of corruption, discord and oppression.

I have adopted the attire of what a rebel leader typically would have worn and a suit with a disingenuous smile in the role of Charles Taylor, the former Liberia president who played a crucial role in supporting the rebels known as The Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Initially the RUF’s message was to oppose to the corruption of politicians in the late 20th century, with their slogan being “No more Slaves, No More Masters. Power and Wealth to the People”. This message of equality was short lived and they would soon be known for their extreme cruelty and violence, inflicting crimes against humanity during a decade long war (1991-2002). The burnt and damaged frame is symbolic of the destruction the rebel forces inflicted upon innocent members of the population. Lions usually act as motifs of strength and courage, they are integral in the Sierra coat of arms - but this lion is cowardly and deceptive, the three flames in the foreground are emblematic of hope for the nation’s future.

The motto depicted on the Sierra Leone coat of arms is ‘unity, freedom, justice’. Often notions of discord, oppression and corruption are associated with Sierra Leone, my family’s motherland, this work conversely looks to celebrate what it means to be Sierra Leonean from the perspective of the African diaspora.

Usually former British colonies are considered in relation to a period of time relative to their colonisation, with the pre-colonial history disregarded. Within this self portrait, I assume the attire of two figures who contributed to the development of Sierra Leone in the 16th and 17th century respectively, Farma Tami and Mansa Kama. Farma Tami founded the Temne tribe, of which my family are descendants of, in the mid 16th century. He was known as The Great Mane Conqueror. He was one of the leaders of the Mane invaders in the early 1500s; historians reference the warriors’ advanced concepts of government and improved methods of weaving and manufacturing iron. Farma Tami organised and empowered his people. Mansa Kama was known as a Great Koranko Warrior and was for all intents and purposes a king of his people. He led the Koranko into what is modern day Tonkolili, Sierra Leone in the mid 17th century. Remembered as the epitome of a brave pioneer, the Temne tribe in the 19th century retained a version of his name to be used as the title of the tribe’s ruler, Masakma.

The ornate frame holds within it a majestic lion with zigzag lines in the background representative of the Lion Mountains, where the name Sierra Leone originates. The two figures, drawings of myself, dressed as Farma Tami and Mansa Kama hold up the frame, as a clear motif paying homage to their legacy. Whilst creating this work over the course of several months I was constantly focused on the message that I was trying to portray, which is that Sierra Leone is a nation that should not be defined by the atrocious and sickening acts of the rebels, but rather a resilient nation that is prosperous.

I felt uncomfortable as one does whilst confronting in depth the histories of a painful past which affected many members of my family. I believe it is important to remember that which causes us the most pain, we must not forget the tens of thousands of civilians who were murdered. The generations that proceeded this war must tell their story so such tragedies may never affect the motherland again.

This ballpoint pen artwork is drawn on pages from a 1954 Sierra Leonean text.

There is an underlying ethnocentrism present in modern society, rooted from archaic colonial structures. This ballpoint pen series of self portraits looks to empower people marginalised as a result of structural racial prejudice that I feel is embedded in western society and in some manifestation or another, is perpetually apparent in the day to day lives of minorities. Until recent atrocities of police brutality have gained strong visibility, these issues were not discussed consistently enough for impactful change, this feeling of oppression whether on a macro or micro level can be felt when you are a minority living in the UK.

As a somewhat racially ambiguous young mixed race man, I am made all too aware that I am different; with questioning apropos to my ethnic heritage being a constant. This apparent curiosity of one’s race feels as though judgement is being passed on you solely based on your pigmentation & ethnic heritage. I am immensely proud to be of Sierra Leonean and Lebanese descent, whilst being conscious of being the first generation of my family to be born in the UK and feeling that I must work harder and go further than my white counterparts.

It can become exhausting expecting a line of questioning on your heritage when you meet people - your pigmentation can be used to evaluate what kind of a threat you are. Thus, the narrative of this triptych shows an adherence to certain racial stereotypes by creating three caricatures of myself to convey the nuanced racial prejudice that I have experienced.

These works respectively reflect over-simplified labels of various demographics that lie beneath the veneer of disingenuous tolerance. The Black stereotype drawn on an 1866 map of Africa plays to the notion that black men are inherently aggressive and that black men do not smile in pictures. The white caricature, drawn on an English map from 1907, wears a faux polite smile and is unsettled by the gaze of the two figures situated either side of him. Drawn on an 1866 text of ‘The races of men’, the middle-eastern stereotype looks suspiciously away from the viewer and may be dangerous to the central white caricature.

This work sardonically answers the inquisitive viewer’s question of where I am really from with the use of redundant stereotypes, contextualised by the antique maps; whilst paradoxically showing an antiquated ideological domain that the ignorant few may place me within.