A short film exploring Yinka Shonibare’s approach to creating Hibiscus Rising, a 9.5-metre public sculpture commissioned for the centre of Leeds and Nov 2023

The vibrant hibiscus artwork commemorates Oluwale, a British-Nigerian man who drowned in the River Aire in 1969 after systematic police harassment, as a powerful symbol of hope, diversity, and a new legacy for Leeds.

The film was used to raise funds for the sculpture and then was exhibited at The Tetley Art Gallery in Leeds, which ran through to early 2023, and later at the Stephen Friedman Gallery in Soho, London, alongside Yinka Shonibare’s work Autumn 2024.