Yinka Shonibare, MBE

In "Un Ballo in Maschera (Courtiers V)*, Yinka Shonibare ocmbines elements from both of his home cultures, Britain and Nigeria, to reflect complex historical relationships and his own dual identity. The style of the costumes is 18th-century European, but they are fabricated from cloth associated with African culture, while the cloth itself incorporates contemporary European commerical images. This brightly patterned "Dutch-wax fabric" was originally produced in Holland to imitate Indonesian batik imported from teh Dutch colonies. Later manufactured by English textile companies for the West African market, it was adopted as a symbol of authentic African culture and identity both in Africa and for the African diaspora.

This sculpture is related to a larger project, Shonibare's film Un Ballo in Maschera, 2004, in which these and other of his costumes were worn by a group of 30 dancers. The film's title, meaning "A Masked Ball," is borrowed from Giuseppe Verdi's 1859 opera of the same name. Verid based his opera on teh events surrounding the 1792 assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden at a masquerade ball. King Gustav is a controversial figure in the history of arts patronage, giving generously to the arts while his country endured extreme poverty. Shonibare's sumptuous dance film offers a stylized performance of the assassination as a repeating cycle of power, frivolity, and revenge.