Roots in the Sky brings a vibrant exploration of Black diaspora to HOME

Open now at HOME, a new exhibition featuring works from ten global artists explores the cultures and identities that define Black diaspora.

Roots in the Sky marks the first institutional curatorial project by British-Nigerian artist Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, and brings together new and recent works by ten contemporary artists whose practices span the United States, Europe and West Africa.

Taking Adeniyi-Jones’s own practice, which is rich with West African heritage, fable and ceremonial symbolism, as a point of departure, the exhibition explores the cultural pluralism and layered identities through painting, sculpture and drawing.

The works on view are informed by both personal narrative and collective memory, exploring themes of mythology, community, lineage, and transformation. The featured artists engage with questions of belonging and identity, resisting reductive narratives in favour of nuance, contradiction, and multiplicity.

Each artist’s practices are further anchored by literary influences from James Baldwin, Chinua Achebe, and Teju Cole, writers, who, like the artists, trace and reimagine diasporic pathways through acts of cultural reckoning and creative resistance.

Speaking about the collection, Tunji Adeniyi Jones says: “Our artistic roots are rarely as individual as wider culture might lead us to believe. Each of our stories shares points of departure or arrival, and revolves around a constant interpretation of the past, present and speculative future.”

Roots in the Sky runs at HOME from Sat 11 Oct – Sun 25 Jan. A special panel discussion will coincide with the exhibition’s launch on Sat 11 Oct at 10am, during which some of the artists on display will discuss the exhibition’s themes with esteemed writer and art historian Aurella Yussuf.