Last month, New York removed a statue of 19th-century gynaecologist James Marion Sims from Central Park after activists demanded the monument be taken down. Sims performed surgical experiments on enslaved black women without anaesthesia. Now, a new monument has gone up.
Presented by the Public Art Fund, British Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare has unveiled Wind Sculpture (SG) 1 to the public, a 23ft fiberglass sculpture that highlights global migration.
It squares in on tolerance, which is central to Shonibare’s philosophy. “It’s a simple equation,” said Shonibare over the phone from his London studio. “You want to be safe, warm and clothed and looked after. Thereforeit’s natural you should want that for other people.”
It started in 2010, when Shonibare created Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a scaled-down replica of HMS Victory, Lord Nelson’s flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar. For the ship’s sails, he used a colourful batik pattern – his visual trademark for many of his artworks – but he felt the sails could stand on their own.
“I wanted to develop the sails and push that further,” said Shonibare, “and that’s how the Wind Sculptures came about.”
The batik-patterned textiles originated in Indonesia, but are better known for their association with the European colonization of west Africa. “The fabrics are now known as African textiles,” said Shonibare. “I like the relationship between the different cultures, as the fabric is a metaphor for the movement of people and global relationships.”
Source:
theguardian
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