Rotherwas Project No. 4: Yinka Shonibare MBE, The American Library Collection (Activists)

The Mead recently acquired and will display The American Library Collection (Activists), a large-scale installation piece by the Britain-born, Nigeria-raised artist Yinka Shonibare MBE. This is the first artwork by Shonibare in the Mead’s collection; it will be on view as part of the fourth iteration of the Rotherwas Project series that situates contemporary art in the museum’s 17th-century oak-paneled room.

Bound in his signature brightly colored Dutch wax printed fabric, Shonibare’s selection of 234 books tells a specific story of how knowledge is organized and disseminated. The spines of the books are emblazoned in gold with the names of activists, who include artists, musicians, academics, and writers. Many of them are immigrants or the children of immigrants, while others have spoken against immigration, diversity, and equality. Shelved together, they draw attention to the rich debates that emerge across time and cultures.

In addition to the wrapped books, the collection comes with a bookshelf designed by the artist and a card catalog of names from the included books. The work is an extension of the artist’s 2017 series The American Library Collection, which included other groupings, such as (Politicians), (Filmmakers), and (Scientists).

Shonibare was born in London in 1962 and moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of three. He returned to the UK to study Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art, London and Goldsmiths College, London, where he received his Master’s in Fine Art. He has become well known for his exploration of colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalization. Working in painting, sculpture, photography, film and installation, Shonibare’s work examines race, class and the construction of cultural identity through a sharp political commentary of the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.