Goodman Gallery
17.09 - 17.11.2022

Yinka Shonibare CBE, RA’s recent exhibition Restitution of The Mind and Soul at Goodman Gallery, Cape Town raised a lot of questions. The artist illustrates a process of reconnection to his African origin of Self; in modern art history, this Self’s manifestations in art were not made visible in a way that aligned the Self to the art produced. I spoke to Shonibare about the birth of his artistic process that led him to the Restitution of his Mind and Soul.

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Hybrid Sculpture (Athena Mattei/Bété Mask), 2022. Courtesy of Goodman Gallery.

Lukho Witbooi: I am fascinated by what I call an architectural language in your work that is very unique. Perhaps I am thinking about Francis Kéré’s manifestations of how he made use of indigenous materials from his home country to build schools. I am also interested in the birth of your own practice, because I read somewhere that when you began your practice, you were challenged for making art that was considered western. I was hoping you could share that story.

Yinka Shonibare, CBE: As an artist of African origin living in London, Especially when I was at art school, I had a very academic art education. I used to do live drawing. Then, my work became very political in my second year. I was making work about the changing Russian systems, thinking about the impact of the end of the cold war and what the world would be like. Then, one of my teachers said.  “You are from Africa. Why are you making work about Global issues? Why are you concerned with this? Why are you not making authentic African art?” I thought, well, I am a global citizen. Surely I can choose any subject. But I also realised that, as an African man, even if I wanted to escape that part of my life to do something else, this would always be projected onto me. So I started asking myself questions about this.  What is African Art? Then, I went to a market in London in Brixton called Brixton Market. aThey sell a lot of African textiles in that shop. I asked them questions about the textiles. They said the textiles are Indonesian inspired and produced by Dutch people and then sold to the African Market. Here I was, thinking the fabrics were originally African! So the fabric for me became a metaphor for contemporary African culture, which is a mixture of things coming from different places. That’s how I started to work with those fabrics and the patterns on the fabrics. I started to look at the idea of colonialism, especially in the Victorian era when a lot of African countries were colonised. So I started to change those Victorian clothes, to make them using African textiles. 

LW: So much seems to have burst forth from the question, what is African art? You used the word ‘authentic’ and how this connects to the idea of one’s authentic self.  Your practice has grown over the years, and you now find yourself in this particular exhibition, Restitution of The Mind and Soul. Can you please share more about it?

YS: In this particular exhibition, I decided to reclaim the African object that actually inspired many modernist artists. So a lot of the African masks used in this exhibition are actually from the art collections of people like Picasso and Matisse and many of the Western artists inspired by African art. What you see here is me transferring some of the patterns I am known for onto those objects.  I also take classical sculptures and make interventions with my patterns and changing heads into masks. 

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Hybrid Mask (Dogon), 2022. Courtesy of Goodman Gallery.

LW: So when you say you have acquired these masks from their collections, do you mean you actually acquired these masks from their personal collections?

YS: No, I remade the masks. So I looked at those collections and remade the masks.  You see many western artists became very famous from looking at African art like Picasso, but those African artists that inspired them were never really mentioned or acknowledged.

LW: I like what you did with the Victorian clothing, how you were doing something similar to what these artists did by appropriating Western art.  It’s a beautiful connection. I also sense something very spiritual in your work, other than the outside influence and the material being used. Is there an idea that’s personal that you feel permeates through this work for you?

YS: Absolutely. For these works, it’s very important to me. Psychologically and historically, because of colonialism, we Africans have been pushed away from our ancestors and heritage. But actually, there is a kind of a reconnection with my ancestors with these works because I feel like the spirit of my ancestors.It’s almost like they tried to remove it from me by forcing western education into me, but here I am, trying to make  a reconnection. 

LW: So would you say you found this process healing and enabling you to connect to an Ancestral sense of Self?

YS: Absolutely. It’s about my heritage and my African pride. It’s about being proud of my ancestors, what they teach and what they created, which has a global impact. But that is why I call the exhibition Restitution of The Mind and Soul. It is kind of like taking my heritage back.  

LW: Your heritage also gives you strength, I am assuming. I read an interesting paper that suggested that for Africans, a great deal of mental health has to do with connection with that idea of our Ancestral practices.

YS: Of course. Unfortunately in Europe, many people of African origin disproportionately suffer from mental health issues purely because of this issue. Not having a sense of identity, a sense of Self or being proud of who you are creates a lot of confusion.So it’s very important for artists like myself to connect to my ancestors and feel like I do not have to try or pretend to be a Western artist. 

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, Modern Magic VI, 2022. Courtesy of Goodman Gallery.

LW: Having undergone this sense of renewal of Spirit, how do you maintain this connection to Africa other than through art while living in Britain?

YS: I developed an art residency space in Lagos which we are opening soon.  We also have a farm outside the city so artists can come and stay and do residencies. I want to connect African artists and international artists to come and stay. They stay for three months: they make work, they get to know the space and meet local artists. They make presentations at the end of their residences. So in a real sense I am very connected to Nigeria. To Lagos. I also do see myself as a global artist.  I can live in London or anywhere or Africa. Other artists are given the freedom to move around. So why not me?