Yinka Shonibare, MBE, RA

Yinka Shonibare CBE, was born in Britain in 1962, he grew up in Nigeria before returning to London to study Fine Art first at Byam Shaw School of Art (now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) and then at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he received his MFA, graduating as part of the Young British Artists generation.

Growing up in Lagos there was a big awareness of British culture; I always visited London regularly, and it has never felt like an alien place.

London is this big mix, and there are a lot of Nigerians in London; it has always felt like a home from home. I don’t think I’ve ever really had to categorize myself as one or the other.

He works across media, including painting, sculpture, photography, film and installation art. His work examines race, class and cultural identity and explores the history of colonialism and post colonialism within the context of globalisation. Shonibare’s work provides insightful political commentary on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories.

My work comments on power, or the deconstruction of power, and I tend to use notions of excess as a way to represent that power.

Shonibare works widely with Dutch wax fabrics...

I always imagined the fabrics were authentically African, and then I was told that the fabrics were Indonesian fabrics produced by the Dutch. And I liked that history of the fabric, and I liked the global connections, the kind of trade routes of the fabric.

In 2004, he was awarded an MBE and shortlisted for the Turner Prize for his Double Dutch exhibition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and for his solo show at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. His significant contribution to Art and Culture were recognised in 2019 when he received a CBE.

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