Some of the most thought-provoking decolonial interventions I have been privileged to view and engage with in Western Europe over recent decades have been conceptualised and created by artists with African heritage in response to a commission, a research residency or an art-political project that critically examines long-established museum and gallery practices dating back to the era of enslavement, imperialism and colonialism. These contemporary art contributions and interventions by luminaries from continental Africa and the global African diaspora have helped to transform major international cultural institutions located in the West into active spaces for decolonial dialogues.

One of the most celebrated artists to have embarked upon and excelled at creating these important art-political outputs is the globally renowned Nigerian-British contemporary installationist and Royal Academician Yinka Shonibare CBE (b. 1962, London).

During March-April 2023 I had the pleasure of spending time reviewing and writing about one of Yinka Shonibare’s most thought-provoking sculptural assemblages – “End of Empire” (2016) – as part of Wolverhampton Art Gallery’s installation and interpretation of that piece as a recent acquisition for the local authority’s art collection, jointly purchased via a partnership with Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

This large-scale, see-saw-themed sculpture was initially created in 2016 as one of several nationally commissioned works by leading contemporary visual artists in Britain. Each invitee was asked to contribute to the 1st World War centenary commemorative programme 14-18 NOW by producing new artworks that referenced and provoked reflection on the impacts and afterlives of that global conflict. (https://www.1418now.org.uk/commissions/end-of-empire/).

The sculpture comprises two ornately dressed mannequins seated at opposite ends of a riveted metal see-saw, with both of the characters positioned with outstretched arms as if in suspended animation, while the central hinged mechanism allows the moving apparatus to tilt from side-to-side at a slow-but-steady, metronomic pace. Both full-size mannequins are dressed in early-20th century Edwardian clothing fashioned from a variety of vibrantly coloured printed cotton fabrics, with globes replacing their heads. The world maps covering each globe-head depict the world’s geo-political borders as they were in 1917.

When End of Empire went on display at Wolverhampton during April 2023, the piece was presented in the Lutz Room, located on the 1st floor in a space sandwiched between the local authority’s Victorian Gallery on one side, and the Georgian Gallery on the other. This enabled a visual dialogue themed around issues of decolonisation to take place between Shonibare’s symbolic referencing of empire’s declining decades and Wolverhampton’s long-established collections of paintings, sculptures and other exhibits dating back to the age of the Industrial Revolution.

Collectively, the Shonibare installation and the pre-existing art collections are intricately associated (in different ways) with Britain’s imperialist past and colonial expansion – spanning the longue durée of the Victorian, Edwardian and early Modern eras through to the end of the 1^st World War.

Visualising the End of Empire

The distinctive Dutch wax printed cotton fabrics that are part of Shonibare’s visual signature were produced in the Netherlands during the nineteenth century, intended as cheap, mass‑produced alternatives to the traditionally made Indonesian batiks. However, because these industrially manufactured European imitations were rejected by communities in Southeast Asia, they were later exported to West Africa and became popular there. So, the fact that Shonibare deliberately incorporates these ambiguous, culturally hybrid fabrics within many of his artworks is an intentional way of signalling the incongruities and paradoxes of colonial history through a contemporary, multi-coloured, artistic vocabulary.

Shonibare’s work challenges assumptions about issues of representation, by playfully – yet poignantly – blurring the boundaries between what is historically considered to be “European” (or “Western”) in origin and what is considered “African.” He deliberately does not present or offer superficial answers and solutions to these global cultural complexities within his artistic tableaux. Instead, he prefers to showcase visual conundrums and provocative scenarios that challenge and question viewers’ preconceptions of what might be considered authentic, or not, as well as what might be based on the realities of people’s lived experiences as opposed to stereotypes, tropes and myth-making. In doing so, whenever his contemporary artworks are installed within public institutional settings, a visual counter-narrative to the pre-existing collections and exhibits ensues. Through this creative intervention, the artist opens up alternative ways of engaging with the full extent of Britain’s problematic imperialist past to contest and push back against its former depictions as a “Golden Age” (see, for example, Alexander and Alexander 2008: 32, Barringer and Flynn 1998: 1-2).

Globe heads, mannequins and patterned textiles

For several decades, Shonibare’s globe-headed figures have presented nuanced references to the world’s diversity – provoking curiosity, reflection and wide-ranging discussions about multiculturalism and globalisation. In each case, the artist’s mixed-media compositions tend to feature single or multiple life-size mannequins of children and adults, dressed in brightly coloured, Dutch wax patterned cotton garments and positioned as though they are pursuing a particular field of study, engaging in an animated discussion, playing a parlour game, competing in an outdoor leisure activity, or participating in a dualistic conflict.

As can be seen in End of Empire, the replacement of a globe instead of a human head on each mannequin, and the deliberately ambiguous skin tone of both, make it difficult to assign a specific ethnic identity to either character.

Although each mannequin appears, on first sight, to be quite playful and animated, their bodies are positioned as though they are precariously teetering at the point of almost falling off the see-saw, and also their style of dress signifies very complex, serious and entangled issues about human fragility. The free-spirited joie de vivre of the two see-saw characters, therefore, contrasts markedly with the realities and traumas of the historical events connected to empire and conflict being referenced.

Multiple significations of the “see-saw”

Linguistically, the word “see-saw” derives from a combination of two French terms “ci” and “ça” – i.e. linking “this” with “that” – as if weighing up the pros and cons of two opposing forces: E.g. Good vs. bad; right vs. wrong; pull vs. push; strong vs. weak, etc. The apparatus itself also alludes to the continuous motion of turbines, and engine power during the Industrial Revolution. While the rocking mechanism might also be an allegorical reference to ethical decision-making and the judicial system, symbolised by the tilting scales of justice and the weighing up of moral value judgments. Additionally, when considering the lyrics of the popular British nursery rhyme and folk song “See-Saw Margery Daw,” which dates from the mid-18th century, the use of a “see-saw” has often been interpreted as a cruel and mocking reference to poverty, precarity and the forced labour of children in workhouses and factories at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The verse – “Seesaw Margery Daw / Johnny shall have a new master / He shall earn but a penny a day / Because he can’t work any faster” – is believed to be a recitation that children from wealthy families would chant as they sneered at the plight of the working poor. More broadly, the to-ing and fro-ing of the see-saw might also be suggestive of the ebb and flow of the tides, thus linking this playground staple to the global, trans-oceanic history of the British Empire and the exploited labour of oppressed workers in Britain’s former colonies who contributed to the UK’s rapid industrialisation, technological advancement, economic growth and geo-political dominance as a global superpower during that troubled era.

From a multicultural perspective, the fact that Yinka Shonibare is an artist with Yoruba heritage should also be considered as a significant factor when interpreting this work. This is especially the case given that there are paired characters featured in the installation, which are often associated within Yoruba spiritual symbolism as “Ibeji” (meaning “twins”). The presence of these two related Orishas, or deities (as combined forces of nature and ancestry, believed to influence human life) is traditionally connected to fertility, good fortune and prosperity.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery will continue to share the public display of End of Empire between their respective local authority sites and also co-ordinate a programme of touring displays within their regions so that as many members of the public as possible will have opportunities to reflect on the symbolism within this piece and feel encouraged to delve deeper into the historical complexities being referenced through this thought-provoking assemblage.

Further reading and references

“14-19 NOW,” World War I Centenary Commemoration Project – Overview of End of Empire (2016) and an image gallery showing the inaugural display installed at Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK – https://www.1418now.org.uk/commissions/end-of-empire/

Alexander, Edward P., and Mary Alexander. 2008. Museums in motion: an introduction to the history and functions of museums. 2nd ed, American Association for State and Local History book series. Lanham: AltaMira Press.

Barringer, Tim, and Tom Flynn. 1998. Colonialism and the object: empire, material culture, and the museum. London and New York: Routledge.

Dixon, Carol Ann. 2022. Transforming Museums, Decolonizing Minds: Three Politically Aesthetic Interventions by African Diaspora Artists, Journal of Museum Education, 47:4, pp. 459-475. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2022.2140554.

Enwezor, Okwui. 2001. Tricking the mind: the work of Yinka Shonibare. In: Salah M. Hassan and Olu Oguibe (Eds.) Authentic, ex-centric: conceptualism in contemporary African art, Venice: Forum for African Art, 49th Venice Biennale, pp. 214-229.

Thomas, Dominic. 2010. Museums in postcolonial Europe, Routledge studies on African and black diaspora. London: Routledge.

Related postings about Yinka Shonibare CBE

‘The William Morris Family Album’ (2015) by Yinka Shonibare MBE:
A new photographic installation inspired by William Morris

Yinka Shonibare MBE’s Jardin d’amour [Garden of Love] (2007), displayed at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris