The Image of the Black in the Wallace Collection is a live, unscripted two-hour tour that uncovers the often-overlooked Black presence—both implicit and explicit—within one of the world’s most remarkable private art collections.
With over 5,500 works spanning painting, sculpture, furniture and decorative arts, the Wallace Collection contains a rich and complex history that, until recently, has seldom acknowledged the Black figures woven throughout its holdings.
Led by Michael I. Ohajuru DUniv, FRSA, this unique tour introduces audiences to a range of Black subjects—from royalty and musicians to saints, servants and enslaved individuals—whose stories lie hidden within the artworks on display. The tour explores themes of economic and cultural capital, revealing the roles Black people have played as both subjects and creators in European art history.
With a sharp focus on the religious, social and cultural significance of these presences, the experience aims to offer a deeper understanding of the role Black individuals have played within 18th- and 19th-century European visual culture. Visitors will come away with a new perspective on the collection and its place within wider narratives of empire, race, and representation.
Michael I. Ohajuru brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the tour. Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University in 2024, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. With degrees in Physics and Art History, he has delivered lectures at major institutions including the National Gallery, Tate Britain, the British Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is the founder of The Image of the Black in London Galleries, and Project Director of The John Blanke Project, which celebrates the life of the Black trumpeter to the Tudor courts.
This tour is ideal for anyone wishing to better understand the complexities of Black presence in European art and history, particularly within the sumptuous setting of the Wallace Collection—home to one of the finest private collections in the UK. Through an informed and thoughtful lens, it offers an invitation to see familiar works anew and engage with a deeper, more inclusive cultural narrative.
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