Yinka Shonibare is a British-Nigerian artist known for works that explore African identity and the legacy of European colonialism. He often uses "Dutch wax" fabric, which symbolizes economic and racial interactions between Europe, Asia, and Africa. His sculptures feature headless mannequins dressed in elaborate costumes to depict colonial-era elites. One work depicts European powers dividing Africa at the 1884 Berlin Conference, while another critiques Enlightenment thinkers who justified later colonial domination. His sculpture "Globe Children" represents the precarious balance of climate change through two children balancing on a globe.

1. Who is Yinka
Shonibare?
General
characteristics
of his work
Scramble
for Africa
“Dutch
wax”
fabric
Headless
mannequi
ns
The Age of
Enlightenment –
Globe Adam Smith
Children

2. Yinka Shonibare
• British-born Nigerian
artist (b. 1962).
• Works across diverse
artistic media.
• Explores African
contemporary identity
and the legacy of
European colonialism.
Retur
n

3. General characteristics of his work
Examples
of «Dutch
Wax»
fabric Retur
n
• His art considers social class, aesthetics
and climate change.
• Characterized by the use of "Dutch
wax" fabric.
• Inspired by Indonesian batiks and
produced in Europe for the West African
market in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• This fabric symbolizes the complex web
of economic and racial interactions--and
interdependencies--between Europe,
Asia and Africa.

4. General characteristics of his work
Headless man trying
to drink water (2005)
• His sculptural works also
feature headless mannequins.
• Clothed in elaborate costumes
from the period just before the
French Revolution, when the
European aristocracy controlled
vast wealth, land and power.
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n

5. Scramble for Africa
In this interpretation: the heads
of state are characteristically
headless –and equally mindless–
in their hunger for what Belgian
King Leopold II called "a slice of
this magnificent cake."
• Historical context: The
"scramble" for Africa by leading
European and world powers
resulted in the carving up of the
continent, formalized at the Berlin
Conference of 1884-85.
• Shonibare's work: depicts this
historic gathering, showing various
statesmen huddled around a table
with a large map of Africa, eagerly
staking their claims.
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6. The Age of Enlightenment -Adam Smith
In this work, he focuses on the
Enlightenment thinkers who
"liberated" reason in the 18th
century.
According to Shonibare, their beliefs
conversely founded the arguments for
colonial conquest and domination in
the 19th century, which took the
"civilizing mission" as their
justification.
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7. Globe Children
This sculpture
explores the theme
of climate change.
Two children balance
precariously on a
globe of the world
shaded with colors
that indicate zones of
warming or
environmental shift.
Retur
n
The use of children in
place of adults suggests
that we are like children
"toying" with the world,
unaware of the full
consequences of our
actions.
The globe is literally held
"in balance" by its two
young protagonists, yet
their fall is imminent
unless we choose to take
action.