Yinka Shonibare

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962, London, United Kingdom) has an interdisciplinary practice which uses Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalisation. As a celebrated British-Nigerian artist working between London and Lagos, Shonibare was awarded the honour of ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in 2019.  

In 2004, he was nominated for the Turner Prize and in 2008 and in 2010, his first public art commission, Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. The Tetley commissioned Shonibare’s Hibiscus Rising, a major public memorial in Leeds for David Oluwale, which opened in November 2023.  

In November 2022, Shonibare launched Guest Artists Space (G. A. S.) Foundation, a non-profit based in Nigeria dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange through residencies, public programmes, and exhibition opportunities. 

Shonibare’s works are in notable museum collections both local and international, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.