British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE works in a variety of techniques, including sculpture, photography, film, and performance to explore national and cultural identity. Referencing Western art and literature as well as economic and political history, he examines race and class through the lens of post-colonialism and globalisation. Shonibare’s signature material is the colourful wax batik fabric, an Indonesian design that was mass-produced by Dutch colonisers and sold to West African colonies. In his works, he appropriates it as a metaphor for global migration and cross-cultural connections, recreating famous historical artworks or scenes with the characters wearing clothes made from these distinctive fabrics.

Yinka Shonibare CBE studied at Byam Shaw School of Art and Goldsmiths and has had an outstanding career since the 1990s. He was elected member of the Royal Academy in 2013, was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2019. Shonibare’s works are in the collections of many art museums around the world. Among his most famous works is Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle presented on the Fourth Plinth on Trafalgar Square in 2010.

Lesson on Paraphrase.