Exhibition Guide

In these four Earth Kids sculptures, Yinka Shonibare connects colonial history to the exploitation of the earth’s limited resources. Each child-sized figure is dressed in 19th-century-style clothing made from Dutch Wax fabric, a textile that has become central to Shonibare’s practice. First produced in the Netherlands in the late 19th century and based on Indonesian batik patterns dating back to the 6th century, these textiles have been popularly adopted in western Africa. For the artist, these textiles symbolize the interconnectedness of the modern world. Shonibare chooses patterns that reflect the four classical elements represented by each sculpture: Air Kid (Boy) wears fabric with a mechanical fan motif, while Fire Kid (Boy)’s clothes are adorned with a flame pattern.

Though the clothing is newly made, it is modelled after Victorian-era fashions popular in western Europe during the second half of the mid-to-late-1800s. By referencing the 19th century, Shonibare links today’s climate crisis to the early Industrial Revolution, when European nations accumulated wealth and power through the exploitation of underpaid labor and natural resources from across the globe.