Exquisite People

Participants from Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants with MURUGIAH

2026

Digital print on fabric, from paint, ink and oil pastel originals

These characters were made by mixing different heads, bodies and legs. The parts were drawn by a group of people who have come to Islington from all over the world. They made work based upon their journeys in a series of workshops with illustrator MURUGIAH.

Each drawing represents a memory. The participants’ pictures include treasured furniture, traditional clothes and trees climbed in childhood. When combined, they represent the way our identities are built over time, and how they can change.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to participants from Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants and MURUGIAH

Project Producer: Valentina Zunino

Design: Wolfe Hall

BSL guide: Edward Richards

Graphics Production: Pigment Press

Installation: Phil Cuttance

Exquisite People is a partnership project produced by Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, a local organisation offering holistic support to people arriving in Islington.

Generously supported by The Linbury Trust, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England.