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2024, Yinka Shonibare exhibits his series 'Decolonised Structures' at the Serpentine Galleries

Event

has description | a une description
Yinka Shonibare's Decolonised Structures (first shown in 2022-2023) consists of a series of miniaturised fibreglass sculptures of colonial figures, hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern and placed on top of wooden plinths. Individuals depicted include Winston Churchill, Frederick Roberts, Horatio Kitchener, Robert Clive, Queen Victoria, Henry Bartle Frere, Charles Napier, Colin Campbell, and William Pitt the Younger. The series was included in an exhibition titled 'Suspended States', which also included one of his wind sculptures, an installation titled 'War library', and 'Sanctuary City.'
The series of statues called 'Decolonised structures' presents scaled-down version of public statues in London. Shonibare noted that the reduction in size and the height of the plinth was specifically intended 'to metaphorically reduce [their' grandeur ... [and] power over citizens.' Shonibare claims that by decking the statues in his signature 'African textiles' (which are in fact Indonesian patterns mass produced by the Dutch and marketed in Africa) and gold-leaf, he is '...making them more beautiful.' He says that he is '...changing their character, or the history of their character, into something much more interesting.' While the statues were expressly created in response to debates around public statues of colonial individuals, Shonibare comments, 'I don't think statues should be destroyed, the public should be able to see them, but there should be museums built for them so people can understand the history of these people and what they did.' The accompanying booklet, also available on the free app Bloomberg Connects, offers short histories of the careers of the individuals depicted by the resized statues.
has type | est de type
contestation
carried out by | réalisée par
Shonibare, Yinka
took place at | a eu lieu dans
City of Westminster
London
United Kingdom
took place on or within | a eu lieu le ou dans l'intervalle de temps
12 April 2024
had duration | a duré
0 years, 5 months
is referred to by | est référencé par
Stephen Friedman Gallery - Yinka Shonibare CBE RA Decolonised Structures, 2022-2023
Stephen Friedman Gallery - Yinka Shonibare CBE RA participates in Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present
Serpentine Galleries - Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: Suspended States, 2024
Yinka Shonibare, CBE, Suspended States, trail guide on Bloomberg Connects app
Yinka Shonibare CBE, Suspended States eds. Lizzie Carey-Thomas, Alexa Chow and Tamsin Hong (London: Serpentine, 2024)

Linked resources

Items with "was modified by | a été modifié par: 2024, Yinka Shonibare exhibits his series 'Decolonised Structures' at the Serpentine Galleries"
Equestrian statue of Frederick Roberts, Westminster
Statue of Charles Napier, Trafalgar Square
Statue of Colin Campbell, Westminster
Statue of Henry Bartle Frere
Statue of Horatio Kitchener, Westminster
Statue of William Pitt the Younger, Hanover Square
Statue of Winston Churchill, Parliament Square
Items with "was discussed by | a été contesté par: 2024, Yinka Shonibare exhibits his series 'Decolonised Structures' at the Serpentine Galleries"
Statue of Robert Clive, Westminster