In 2010, a giant bottle containing a model of Admiral Nelson’s ship HMS Victory appeared on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. Its sails were made of colourful African print fabric. The artist was Yinka Shonibare.
Shonibare was born in London in 1962 to Nigerian parents and grew up in Lagos, returning to London to study art. At 18, he contracted transverse myelitis, which left him with long-term physical disability. He studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art and Goldsmiths College.
Dutch wax print
Shonibare’s signature material is the brightly patterned fabric commonly called African print. He points out its complicated history: much of it was manufactured in the Netherlands, inspired by Indonesian batik, and sold in West Africa, where it became a symbol of African identity. For Shonibare, the fabric shows how identity is mixed and constructed.
Headless figures
He is known for installations of headless mannequins dressed in Victorian-style costumes made from wax print fabric, often posed in scenes from European history and art. The work questions colonialism, class, power and who is included in history.
Fourth Plinth
Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle was commissioned for the Fourth Plinth, the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square that displays temporary contemporary artworks. The ship sat near Nelson’s Column, linking British naval history with the global trade that shaped African textiles. The work was later bought, after a public fundraising campaign, for the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
Recognition
Shonibare was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2004. He was appointed MBE, later CBE, and elected a Royal Academician. His work is held by major museums worldwide, and his studio is in east London.
Guest Artists Space
Shonibare founded the Guest Artists Space Foundation, with a residency programme in Lagos and a farm in Ijebu, to support artists and cultural exchange in Nigeria.
The British Library
His installation The British Library features thousands of books covered in wax print fabric, with the names of immigrants and descendants of immigrants who shaped British culture printed on the spines.
Legacy
Shonibare’s work has made Dutch wax print a subject for serious discussion about globalisation and identity.
The fabric Africans wear with pride was designed in Europe and inspired by Asia. Shonibare turned that tangled history into some of the most recognisable art of his generation.
