Project Black part 2

Nelson's Ship in a Bottle

Artist Yinka  Shonibare 

On the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square

The sculpture of the boat 4.7m long and 2.35m high from keel to the top of the main mast

The sails are made of African batik fabrics, one of the signature touches of the artist. The sails are representative of cultures absorbed into the african culture. The material is is of Dutch waxcloth, that itself is an import of an Indonesian method for wax printing, that arrived in Africa in the middle of the 19th century and became the cloth of choice for African clothing. Shonibare buys the fabric from Brixton market although it is manufactured mainly in Manchester, England or Helmond, Netherlands.

Shonibare describes himself as a"post-colonial hybrid" having been born in England of Nigerian parents. He goes on "Its the way I view culture-its an artificial construct. (Interview with ArtNews 2002)

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/7758830/Nelsons-ship-in-a-bottle-unveiled-on-Fourth-Plinth.html) the artist said that his work considers the legacy of British colonialism. He said "Nelson's Ship in a Bottle will be the first project on the fourth plinth to reflect specifically on the relationship between the birth of the British Empire and Britain's present-day multicultural context"

I finish with a quote from the same article in the Telegraph -

"...diversity, when the word is used to describe arts policy, seems to be a different thing altogether. Indeed by trying to capture the essence of difference, it seems to snuff it out altogether. In this reading culture s not fluid, but defined in rigid categories. Artists are not artists but black, Asian or minority ethnic - "culturally diverse". There are specially publicly-funded  bursary schemes for black artists, and for funding black-led art groups"


Whilst one has to take into account the political stance of the Telegraph could it be the case that by pigeon-holing particular groups identified by colour or race we are at risk of perpetuating the dominance of the western white culture?