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Yinka Shonibare CBE

Yinka Shonibare CBE

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA

Born in London, United Kingdom; lives there.

Wind Sculpture III
(one in a series of nine)

Steel armature with hand-painted fiberglass resin cast
610 x 110 x 32 cm

© Yinka Shonibare CBE RA 2021
Commissioned by and Collection of Expo 2020 Dubai
Cover photo: Thorsten Arendt in cooperation with Roman Mensing (detail)

Location

Yinka Shonibare CBE's work Wind Sculpture III harnesses the wind and freezes it in a moment in time. The artwork manifests as a large three dimensional, hand-painted piece of fabric that appears to be moving in reaction to natural elements in the surrounding environment.

Shonibare often uses patterns normally associated with African identity. The fabric portrayed in his work has a complicated history, in terms of its origin and its movement along trade routes: it was originally designed as an Indonesian fabric and was then sold into the African market, where it came to represent African culture. This intersection of cultural backgrounds is a perfect metaphor for the multi-layered identities in the world today, which the artist views as a network of artificial constructs.

See also the statement

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: Wind Sculpture III (one in a series of nine). 2021
Steel armature with hand-painted fiberglass resin cast. 610 x 110 x 32 cm
Commissioned by and Collection of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Photos: Thorsten Arendt in cooperation with Roman Mensing

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA - Statement

I’m delighted to be debuting my Wind Sculpture in Dubai - it’s my first time exhibiting in the country, and I’m pleased that it’s come about by invitation from Expo 2020.

The series of outdoor sculptures began as an exploration of the idea of harnessing the wind and freezing it in a moment of time: The idea of capturing the volume of wind but to work with industrial materials normally applied to building structures to exude a sense of solidity - and I liked that paradox. I wanted to create a tension between the large abstract three-dimensional nature of a piece of fabric appearing to be blown in the wind in contrast to the media used to re-create that illusion.

More broadly speaking, conceptually they are informed by the movement of peoples via sea and trading routes and speaks of multi-cultural identity in a post-colonial world.

Both Middle Eastern and African countries have been established for thousands of years, but the concept of a nation-state is a relatively new one.

I’m looking forward to learning how audiences will respond to the work in the historical context of the UAE and its own national identity.

London, November 2021

More in UiU:

Text and information: Expo 2020 Dubai Public Art Programme.

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