Yinka Shonibare

By Corina Li

Yinka Shonibare is a British-Nigerian born in 1962 now living in the United Kingdom. He is a contemporary artist that expresses cultural identity and colonialism through drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, and installations. In his artworks, he always includes a signature element, Dutch wax-printed fabric. The materials that he works with varies; however, the most common materials he uses are headless mannequins, Dutch wax-printed fabric, and things that people use commonly in daily life (Tables,books, umbrella, etc.)

The artworks that he creates all have a center concept, which is about Africa being colonized and treated as if Africans were a lower class. So, in his works, he often incorporated Africans being abused scenarios that occurred and a small twist to the scenario. One of his most famous art piece is called “The Scramble Of Africa”. It is an installation art created in 2003 and it describes the scenario of 14 high European commissioners wearing Dutch wax-printed clothing deciding on how to split Africa.

Read more about the artist here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yinka-Shonibare