Beste Erel Windes’s Updates

Defying history's time and place in meaning through art: A Tale of Today

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE explains how art allows him to reconstruct truths by defying time and space. He points out to his interest in playing with the contexts of colonial era, mainly because these were spaces he was not allowed in if he lived in those times. As he explains his journey into the questioning the notions of authenticity in art, he talks about the subjectivity of history written or influenced by those in positions of power. 

Media embedded May 8, 2022

With the requirements of authenticity, he thinks art is putting forth some kind of Jim Crow law limiting people what time and spaces they can enter. I thought this is a powerful way of explaining the interpretive methods in history and art. More specifically, I think this speaks to the structure and context functions of transpositional grammar. Yinka Shonibare CBE in his way is making meaning of his own history by defying the structural and contextual barriers dictated on him through his educational, and social backgrounds. 

He also has a great interview where he talks a bit more about his own background and his works called "Depicting colonialism and globalization through art ‘full of contradiction’"for those of you who might be interested in learning more about his works: 

Media embedded May 8, 2022

References: 

A Tale of Today: Yinka Shonibare CBE (Feb 21, 2019). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://youtu.be/DLxLfj3fY2A 

Depicting colonialism and globalization through art ‘full of contradiction’. (2017, January 13). Retrieved May 9, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppEaihcfgi8