MAGIC LADDER KID VI 2018

Curator: Let’s examine Yinka Shonibare's "MAGIC LADDER KID VI," a mixed-media sculpture created in 2018. It features a figure climbing a ladder adorned with books. What strikes you initially? Editor: The figure's vibrant fabric immediately grabs my attention. The way the 'Dutch wax' fabric contrasts with the metallic head and the ladder made of wood is unusual. What can you tell me about this combination of materials and patterns? Curator: The key to unlocking Shonibare's work lies in its materiality and how the materials intersect. Consider the 'Dutch wax' fabric. Although it seems African, its origins are rooted in Dutch colonial trade routes in Indonesia. This fabrication highlights the complexities of cultural exchange and the uneven power dynamics inherent in global trade. How does this understanding shift your interpretation? Editor: It’s a very clever juxtaposition! So, the familiar, colourful pattern isn’t straightforwardly African at all, but a product of global trade and colonialism. What about the ladder itself? Does that have symbolic value as well, being ‘constructed’ out of books? Curator: Absolutely. Wood, as the ladder's base material, represents resources extracted from colonized lands, fashioned into tools of supposed progress and education - the books on each step. Each material and process speaks to a history of exploitation and the complicated relationship between colonizer and colonized. Do you consider the making of a "sculpture", typically conceived in the language of “fine art” to hold the power to make social and political statements more forcefully? Editor: It’s eye-opening to consider each component's history and manufacturing and what social commentary is intended. This reframes how I understand not only the artwork but also how something familiar as fabric can carry so much complexity. Curator: Exactly. By focusing on the means of production and circulation of these materials, Shonibare urges us to reconsider the social, cultural, and economic forces that shape our world, while making this accessible by the form: art.