Last year the National Library of Wales commissioned the portraitist Joshua Donkor to create two new artworks in response to the Library’s National portrait Collection, as part of the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan. The National Library is home to a substantial portrait collection comprising over 10,000 works portraying figures in Wales and Welsh history, dating from the 16th century up to the present day. The collection was created when the library was established in 1907 and was developed across the decades through gifts and purchases.
The portrait collection is however problematic, as it contains images of controversial figures in Welsh history, including Thomas Picton (1758-1815), the cruel governor of Trinidad who profited directly from the slave trade and was known for his despicable treatment of the enslaved people. The portrait collection also holds nearly no portraits of people of colour who have played a central role in the development of Wales.
Joshua Donkor is a Ghanian-British painter who graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan School of Art and Design in 2020 and whose work uses portraiture as a tool to subvert monolithic portrayals of Black identity. His portraits include multiple visual references created through various painting, printing, and layering techniques, which give a great sense of depth and meaning to his work.
As Joshua Donkor researched the portrait collection, he decided to respond to the collection by portraying people of colour who have made a substantial contribution to the community in Wales today. His portraits of the dancer and choreographer June Campbell Davies and the leader in race equality and equal rights for women in Wales, Gaynor Legall are immensely significant additions to the Library’s portrait collection.
The portrait of June Campbell Davies will be on display in the Portrait & Power exhibition at the National Library of Wales (1.11.25-30.5.26).