The African Library

The African Library by Yinka Shonibare is a commemoration of the fight for independence in the European colonies across the African continent and celebrates the achievements made by Africans since liberation. It consists of an installation of thousands of books covered in the artist’s signature Dutch wax printed cotton textile.

Along the spines of many of these books are printed the names of notable figures from the continent’s past and present. Highlighted are those who supported and fought for independence, including Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Taytu Betul and Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. Other books have the names of preeminent Africans who since self-governance have helped to shape the modern identity of the continent. These names include the Heads of State, both good and bad and the names of Africans and the diaspora who have made a significant contribution to all aspects of African life and culture, from science to music, art, cinema and literature.

The installation includes a website where you can learn more about the people named on the books and access archive footage of notable figures who were instrumental in achieving independence in their country. This part of the installation highlights the aspirations of various leaders to peacefully create a new, independent and unified Africa.

The African Library is inspired by the emancipation of the African continent and the changes which have taken place since the departures of the ruling European powers. It also looks at the ways the continent continues to try and shake off the colonial legacies and emerge as a modern self-governed continent.

Artist's Biography

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962) in London, UK, studied Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art, London (1989) and received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London (1991).

His interdisciplinary practice uses citations of Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalization. Through examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity, his works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe, and their respective economic and political histories.

In 2004, Shonibare was nominated for the Turner Prize and in 2008, his mid-career survey began at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, travelling in 2009 to the Brooklyn Museum, New York and the Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. In 2010, his first public art commission ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London and is in the permanent collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

In 2013, he was elected a Royal Academician and was awarded the honour of ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in 2019. His installation ‘The British Library’ was acquired by Tate, London in 2019.

Shonibare was awarded the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award in March 2021. A major retrospective of his work opened at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg in May 2021 followed by his co-ordination of The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London which opened in September 2021.

To mark Sharjah Biennial's 30th anniversary in February 2023, Shonibare was commissioned to create a series of new works for the exhibition. He also unveiled a new outdoor sculpture commissioned by the David Oluwale Memorial Association in Aire Park, Leeds as part of Leeds 2023. 

At this year’s 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, from April 20 to November 24, he is presenting a new installation in Nigeria’s national pavilion as part of the group exhibition titled Nigeria Imaginary. And his sculpture Refugee Astronaut VII will feature in the group exhibition titled Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. 

In November 2022, Shonibare hosted the international launch of Guest Artists Space

(G. A. S.) Foundation, a non-profit founded and developed by the artist.  The Foundation is dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange through residencies, public programmes and exhibition opportunities for creative practitioners from around the world. The multi-use live/work residency spaces are set across sites in Lagos and a rural working farm in Ijebu, Ogun State.

Shonibare’s works are in notable museum collections internationally, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and VandenBroek Foundation, The Netherlands.