Charmaine Watkiss: From the ones who came before…
- Blk Art Map
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Nationally acclaimed British artist Charmaine Watkiss is well known for works that explore the botanical legacy and healing traditions of the Caribbean through which she traces a lineage to Africa. For RAMM’s commission, From the ones who came before… Charmaine has created two separate works.
Inspired by the museum’s West African displays, Watkiss has produced a watercolour drawing and a mask. Her own likeness is represented as a fictionalised double portrait in Flash of the Spirit which also shows a nkisi (power figure) from RAMM’s collection. This carving of a kneeling woman has bilongo (medicines) on her stomach and marine shells inside it, linking it to water spirits.
Creating a mask is a new development in Watkiss’s sculptural practice. It has been directly inspired by the Mukenga (helmet mask) from Kuba in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unlike the artefact in RAMM’s collection, Watkiss’s mask has a pouch attached containing dried, medicinal herbs and a prayer.
ram museum
Exeter
10 February – 16 August 2026
Free entry
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