Exhibition
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA: End of Empire
12 Oct 2023-23 Jun 2024
The Box
Plymouth PL4 8AX
Yinka Shonibare CBE, End of Empire. Credit: Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery
Overview
This large-scale sculpture comments on the balance of power at the outset of the First World War, making a striking visual connection between the conflicts of the West, globalisation and empire.
Commissioned by 14-18 NOW End of Empire depicts two dapper figures with globe heads on a steam-punk seesaw - a symbol of Victorian industrialism. They wear brightly coloured suits made of ‘Dutch wax’ textiles: fabric that tells a story about colonial history, via Indonesian-style batik prints made in Dutch mills and sold to 19th-century Nigeria.
The globe heads represent the two ‘sides’ in the First World War: the British-French allies versus the Austro-Hungarians and Germans. The coloured textile designs indicate the African lands formerly colonised by the Europeans.
The First World War witnessed the disappearance of four once-powerful realms - German, Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian. The seesaw swings slowly, constantly rebalancing - a symbol of the move towards this 'end of empire’.
Admission free.
No need to book.