In his series of wind-scultpures, Shonibare turns his attention towards movement itself. Here we are presented with large, abstract sculptures, covered in colourful wax print. The strong coloured sculptures’s undulating and folded forms and shapes are remindant of scarves - or sails - that have been caught in the wind. Here it is the motion itself that is important - the motion of the shape and textile, serving as a metaphore for the motion of humans through times. As the artist points out, culture is not created in a vacuum - but through the movement of people. The work Material (SG) IV (2023) is part of this series of sculptures.

Storytelling - and how narratives and identity is created, shaped and developed - is central in Shonibare’s art. His use of the Dutch wax print creates a dialogue with the history and the traditional narratives surrounding colonialism and post-colonialism. With a focus on globalisation and migration as historically carrying elements for culture creation and development - he is able to explore, in a playful and satirical manner, how empirialism, and the innate powers structures of empirialism, have led to the development of the multi-cultural society we live in today. 

Yinka Shonibare; Material (SG) IV, 2023. © Yinka Shonibare / BONO Photo: © Kristina A. Kvåle