In Conversation: On the Border of my Peaceful Home

This display has been curated by artist Kedisha Coakley. She has selected pictures, objects and specimens from Sheffield’s collection to explore the relationship between Empire and the trade in fruit and flowers. 

Fruit and flowers, specifically the pineapple and the tulip, became symbols of wealth and status in Europe during the 1600s and 1700s. They were the inspiration for Dutch Flower paintings, which inspired Coakley’s enduring fascination with still life painting and drawing.

Coakley refers to the violence and legacy of this horticultural pillage and imagines long journeys across land and sea to markets in Europe. She questions these histories that have been erased, or remain untold, wondering what is left behind when these specimens are extracted from their native lands, whilst also mapping personal connections between Sheffield and her ancestral home in Jamaica.  

Coakley reflects on where her work sits in the wider conversation of collecting, visibility, and ownership, as well as how it facilitates conversations with the rest of Sheffield’s collection.

Coakley’s work has recently been acquired for Sheffield’s collection through the support of the Contemporary Arts Society.

Suggested donation £5 – Please donate if you're able and help keep your museums open and available for everyone to enjoy.