Contrary Life

Contrary Life is a website covering quirky events across the UK.

  • Home
  • About
  • Events by region
    • North East
    • North West
    • Yorkshire
    • East Midlands
    • West Midlands
    • East
    • London
    • South East
    • South West
    • Scotland
    • Northern Ireland
    • Wales
Home > Art > Significant Voices: Yinka Shonibare MBE in conversation with Ekow Eshun

Significant Voices: Yinka Shonibare MBE in conversation with Ekow Eshun

By Caroline King - October 4, 2011Posted in : Art

Yinka Shonibare MBE in conversation with Ekow Eshun

Yinka Shonibare MBE who will be in conversation with Ekow Eshun

When: 19th October 2011 at 6.30pm

Where: Amnesty International’s Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard EC2A 3EA

£: 7 (5 concessions)

What is it?

Iniva’s (Institute of International Visual Arts) Significant Voices series presents Yinka Shonibare MBE in conversation with writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun.  This new series by guest speakers in the cultural world generates debate and space for different thought processes.

Yinka Shonibare MBE, nominated for the Turner Prize in 2004 and responsible for Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2011, talks about the history and cultural legacy of post-colonial Britain.  His work explores colonialism and post-colonialism within the context of globalisation.  He examines the construction of identity and tangled interrelationships between Africa and Europe and their economic and political histories.

Shonibare works with different media; painting, sculpture, film and photography, and is best known for his figurative sculptures inspired by literature and art history, and rendered in brightly coloured ‘African’ fabrics.

“We think of these fabrics as African textiles; in fact these are Indonesian textiles produced by the Dutch for the African market.  I’m interested therefore in their global nature, in the Indonesian, Dutch and indeed British connections, since they were also manufactured in Manchester.”  Yinka Shonibare MBE

Shonibare, who was born in London and raised in Nigeria, began using the Dutch wax fabric in his work in the 1990s, initially mocking up entire Victorian rooms and covering chaise longues.  In a series of photographs Diary of a Victorian Dandy, commissioned by Iniva in 1998, Shonibare presents himself as the frock-coat-wearing hero.  Most recently, he made the sails of HMS Victory in Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle from this material.  Shonibare refers to the development of trade routes and building of the British Empire; the sails become a metaphor for the global connections of contemporary people.

More info: Book online by visiting www.iniva.org.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Tagged With: Amnesty International, Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), London, London events, Significant Voices, Yinka Shonibare

Curiosity of the Week

Normanton Church, a waterside wonder
Normanton Church by Karen Cann

Welcome to a new year, and a new Curiosity of the Week! Our first curiosity of 2021 is a sunken church. It’s also one of the UK’s finest hidden gem tourist attractions…

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Top Story

Drama from a toilet cubicle
Overflow, Bush Theatre steaming show

This month, UK audiences can enjoy a streamed performance of Overflow, a heart-wrenching show played out in a club toilet…

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

What are you looking for today?

  • Alternative Sport
  • Art
  • Cabaret and Circus
  • Cinema
  • Classes, Workshops & Talks
  • Club Night
  • Comedy
  • Dance
  • Exhibitions and Installations
  • Fairs and Markets
  • Festival
  • Food & Drink
  • Heritage and History
  • Interview
  • Literature
  • Museum
  • Music
  • Nature and Outdoors
  • Review
  • Science and Technology
  • Theatre
  • Walks and Tours

Sign up to our Newsletter

Copyright © 2021 · Contrary Life