10,000-Book Installation by Yinka Shonibare for the British Library

 Britsh-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare has created a striking 10,000 book installation for the British Library exploring "the impact of immigration on all aspects of British culture and considers notions of territory and place, cultural identity, displacement and refuge." The installation features volumes bound in the African Dutch wax batik fabric (known in Nigeria as ankara) often used in Shonibare's work. On the spines of 3,500 of the books are the names of notable immigrants, including writers T.S. Eliot, Henry James, and Kazuo Ishiguro, "who throughout history have made significant contributions to British culture and society".
Shonibare said of the work:
“Whilst the installation is a celebration of the ongoing contributions made to British society by people who have arrived here from other parts of the world or whose ancestors came to Britain as immigrants, it does not exclude the points of view of those who object to it. The British Library is inspired by the current debates about immigration and the public response to the new presence of Romanians in Britain.”
The 10,000 books will be on display in the Old Reference Library at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery located in southern England until May 25. Shonibare studied Fine Art at the Byam Shaw School of Art and then at Goldsmiths, University of London. He gained international recognition in 2002 for his work Gallantry and Criminal Conversation. His art primarily explores the impact of colonialism on both the colonisers and the colonised. Want to learn more about Nigerian artists in the Diaspora? Check out our Discover Nigeria articles about Kehinde Wiley, Fatimah Tuggar, and Nnenna Okore.