Shonibare (sounds like Shaw-Knee-Bar-A) is a British/Nigerian artist who is currently exploring colonialism and the way it shaped cultural identities. He is well know for huge installation pieces and the use of a fabric called Batik. By clothing his figures or designing objects in this traditional fabric, he 'Africanizes' subjects that we generally associate with colonialism, subversively pointing out the complicated narrative of history and identity (1).
This is a close up of his piece The Scramble for Africa, which I think is a great example of installation and the materials choice. It's huge and challenging and visually appealing. You can read more about this interesting piece here.
While a great piece, this The Scramble isn't my favorite. This is: 
Meet Odile and Odette. Approximately 14 minutes of mind blowing film. Here's a little snippet:
Odile / Odette from Doug Haywood on Vimeo.
You might be thinking 'what the heck is this??' but those of us ballet nuts will instantly recognize the title from the famous ballet Swan Lake (or the more contemporary Black Swan). In this film piece, 2 dancers are performing a role typically danced by the same dancer. The details are amazing, all the way down to those batik pointe shoes. When talking about the film, Shonibare said "The roles- one as the ego and one as the alter- in my version are more ambiguous: you would not necessarily be able to tell who is the bad swan and who is the good one." It's a gorgeous way to subtly draw the viewers attention towards and, in my opinion, away from race simultaneously.
In large scale the film is fascinating, beautiful, heartbreaking and a stunning piece of art. If you want to see the entire film, hop over to the Modern of Fort Worth and enjoy Focus: Yinka Shonibare through March 24th.
Care for a tour? Touch base with me at DoriTheDocent@gmail.com.
Enjoy!
-DBC
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