Artist Spotlight: Zhara Elizabeth — Hidden in our Hair
Exploring Black identity and heritage, Zhara Elizabeth’s Hidden in our Hair (2022) highlights the stories and histories woven into Black hairstyles and design.
Zhara Elizabeth is a 23-year-old contemporary artist, born and raised in Barbados and now based in Lewisham, London. Her work explores themes of Black identity, heritage, and representation, with a particular focus on the history and cultural significance of Black hair. She is developing her art practice whilst completing a master’s in Creative Arts and Mental Health at Queen Mary University and working as a teaching assistant. She hopes to continue her practice by undertaking a second master’s degree in Art Psychotherapy.
I think I just wanted to show the beauty while also showing the pain and stories that lead to that beauty.
Hidden in our Hair, 2022. UV-A light reveals hidden paintings within the piece. Photograph: Migration Museum.
Furze Platt School A-Level students engaging with Hidden In Our Hair by Zhara Elizabeth. Photograph: Migration Museum.
Hidden in the images are paintings that are only visible under UV-A light, inviting viewers to discover hidden layers of meaning and history. This playful approach encourages physical engagement with the work. Zhara believes that interactive experiences like these, spark learning that goes far beyond the classroom — and she carries that same belief into her art practice:
I think coming [to the exhibition] or bringing your children here gives them a softer way to understand what they’ve [migrants] been through. A more interesting, more fun way to interact with other people’s stories and other people’s struggles and become more conscious of what’s going on around you.
Zhara Elizabeth with her artwork Hidden in our Hair, displayed in the community gallery space at the Migration Museum in Lewisham, London. Photograph: Felix Ursell.
Through these works, Zhara presents “our world, our history, our hair”, encouraging viewers to recognise the gift of history that is worn through certain styles.
I want young Black girls to be able to see themselves and their history when they look at my work and be proud and fall in love with themselves.
Growing up in Barbados, Zhara recognised the disparity of being surrounded by people who looked like her and shared her heritage while having little to no representation reflected in television shows, books or illustrated covers on the cover of boxes of toys that she craved as a child. This work aims to counter her childhood experiences and give young Black girls the representation that she missed.
Zhara’s work was featured as part of our first ever community curated exhibition — Inside/Outside And All In Between (2024-25).
Hidden in our Hair, 2022. Displayed at Migration Museum’s community-curated exhibition Inside/Outside and All In Between. Photograph: Sopo Ramischwili.
Exhibition: Inside/Outside — And All In Between
Inside/Outside And All In Between was the Migration Museum’s first community curated exhibition. It ran from September 2024 until March 2025, featuring local artists with a connection to Lewisham – either through living, working, studying, volunteering, or organising in the borough. Every artwork on display — a glimpse into a different story of migration. Our exhibition delved into the complex dynamics of migration and displacement, exploring the potential conflicts, parallels, blends and transformative journeys between the public and private spheres, between the external and internal dimensions of ‘home’, between outward expression and inner states of being, between memory and imagined self and futures, between struggling with or embracing a new culture and identity.
Learn more about our community-curated exhibition here.
And meet our first cohort of community-curators here.
This feature is part of the Migration Museum’s Artist Spotlight series. Here we feature interviews with artists that we have collaborated with over the years. The series highlights both established artists involved in our major exhibitions and emerging voices who have contributed to our community-curated exhibition.