David Oluwale was a Nigerian who lived in Leeds and died there in 1969, after being assaulted by two police officers. This portrait of Oluwale was displayed by me all over the city of Leeds, as part of the events in 2019 there to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

This is Rasheed’s third work about Oluwale, who was a victim of police racism and violence. He was killed and left in a canal in the River Aire in Leeds, in 1969. Rasheed, made his first art work, called For Oluwale (Sharjah Arts Foundation) in 1973 and which was exhibited at Swiss Cottage Library in 1973. The work provoked lots of complaints and ‘racist’ letters which he incorporated into For Oluwale 2, (Private Collection, Dubai) which was then exhibited at the Other Story in 1989. In this new work Rasheed has blown up a mug shot of Oluwale and this work has been made in collaboration with the The David Oluwale Memorial Foundation www.rememberoluwale.org