Is Face Art Returning to the Centre of Visual Practice?

20th August, 2025

At Bradford African Festival of Arts 2025, Jumoke Muritala’s “Wakefield” and “African Motifs” opened up a conversation: if human skin was one of the earliest surfaces for art, is it gradually returning to a central place in visual practice? One thing is clear, her selection to exhibit at the festival reflects the continued relevance of face art as a medium for cultural storytelling.

For centuries, people painted their faces and bodies to tell stories, signal identity and preserve belief. Long before canvas became common, the body carried image and meaning. As painting shifted to stretched fabric and framed walls, skin became less visible in formal art spaces.

In Wakefield, the face is covered in dark black paint with gold cracks running across it and a miner’s lamp placed visibly at the top of the face, above the brow. The image is simple and strong. The black refers to coal. The gold lines suggest breaking and rebuilding. The paint is applied evenly, and the cracks are drawn with steady hands, showing clear control. The message needs no further explanation. Mining was once central to Wakefield’s identity and culture.

African Motifs shows traditional symbols in strong, clear lines. The arrangement is intentional, and each element is visible and defined. The lines are neat and consistent, and the spacing between the symbols is carefully managed. The overall art piece is bold and deliberate. Culturally, thousands of years ago, African motifs functioned as essential visual languages tied to identity and daily life but today they are mostly seen as aesthetic designs.

Audience feedback described the works as refreshing, engaging and educational. For some, it was striking to see face art presented not as decoration or performance, but as exhibited artworks with significant history.

The question, then, is not whether face art belongs. It is whether we are witnessing its quiet return to a place it once naturally held at the heart of visual expression.