It’s an exhibition which sees a decapitated writer reunited with his head.

The University of Leeds’ Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery is celebrating its 10th anniversary of its opening with Who am I to you?

It’s an exhibition that uses the latest digital technology to examine the past, present and future of the collection of portrait busts at the University of Leeds.

The display explores identity, representation and public memory, asking whose stories are told, and whose voices are missing.

Sculptures of subjects ranging from classical philosophers to University luminaries of more recent times have been gathered in the Gallery.

Ivan Meštrović’s early-20th century sculptures of benefactors Lord Edward Allen Brotherton and his niece-in-law Dorothy Una Ratcliffe are reunited for the first time in 70 years.

The hands of pioneering surgeon Sir Arthur Mayo-Robson, cast in plaster for Leeds School of Medicine in 1932, have inspired four volunteers to cast their own hands in plaster. Each displays a coin or medal selected from the University’s Cultural Collections.

A selection of busts have been 3D-printed in miniature using 360° digital scans. Easier to handle – and glowing in the dark – the new versions of the sculptures invite us to reconsider the authority of their subjects.

3D printing has also been used to reunite a damaged plaster statuette of Robert Louis Stevenson with its head, raising questions about how we preserve and restore cultural heritage.

Digital scan of a damaged circa 1901 plaster statuette of the Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson made by the Scottish sculptor David Watson
Stevenson, and held by the Sculpture Collection at the University of Leeds. — Digital scan of a damaged circa 1901 plaster statuette of the Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson made by the Scottish sculptor David Watson Stevenson, and held by the Sculpture Collection at the University of Leeds. | Scan the World/University of Leeds Cultural Collections

placeholder image — Digital scan of a damaged circa 1901 plaster statuette of the Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson made by the Scottish sculptor David Watson Stevenson, and held by the Sculpture Collection at the University of Leeds. | Scan the World/University of Leeds Cultural Collections

Dr RJ Wade, Associate Curator, University of Leeds Cultural Collections, said: “The sculptures in this exhibition are such a familiar part of the fabric of the University that they are almost invisible to us. By gathering them in conversation and contextualising them through rare books, letters, photographs and 3D technologies, we see them in a different light and reflect on who they are to us now.

“For the tenth anniversary of the Gallery, we bring together volunteers, students, researchers and digitisation specialists to create an expansive exploration of these objects and subjects. For the first time, the exhibition encompasses the whole Gallery space, making use of innovative display techniques that bring us closer to our incredible Cultural Collections.”

Who am I to you? runs in Treasures of the Brotherton in the Parkinson Building, University of Leeds, from Tuesday, February 3, to Saturday, October 3, 2026. Admission is free and open to all, with no booking required, and the gallery is open from 10am – 5pm, Tuesday – Saturday.