Hannah Uzor, nee Hasiciimbwe (b. 1982, Lusaka, Zambia) is a British artist living and working in the UK.
Her practice is driven by her interest in history, particularly, diasporic culture and its manifestation in personal and public memory. The act of researching, observation and the physical manifestations of these processes are equally as important as the research material that is discovered. Each body of work is centred on a particular research focus thus draws from a variety of references including archival images, historical paintings, family photographs and literature.
In her 2020 project covering the Victorian era in the United Kingdom, she has used portraiture and video as a tool to highlight the stories of the individuals belonging to the African diaspora and the complex relationships they had with Western society and culture.
Included in this project was a portrait painting of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, which was acquired by English Heritage and displayed at Osborne House throughout October 2020 for Black History Month in the UK and is now part of their public collection. She has since appeared on numerous British and American programmes including CBS This Morning, ITV, BBC, CNN, and Sky News to talk about her artistic practice and discuss the historical context of her work and its relevance in society today.
The acquisition of the portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta led to the commissioning of five other portraits of historical figures of the African diaspora by English Heritage as part of a project titled Painting Our Past. This project has been widely covered in the media with several articles featuring her work such as The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Economist, BBC history Magazine (July issue), British Archaeology (July issue) including a special podcast of Uzor in discussion with English Heritage’s properties historians’ team leader, Dr Andrew Hann.
In 2021, Uzor was the recipient of the Milein Cosman Scholarship for Drawing at the Slade School of Fine Art and is currently completing her MA in Painting.