THE FURIETTI OLD CENTAUR 2018

Editor: This is "The Furietti Old Centaur" by Yinka Shonibare, created in 2018. It’s a mixed-media sculpture with bronze elements, and it’s impossible to miss. The entire piece is swathed in vibrant, patterned fabric; even its head has been replaced by a globe. It has this strangely whimsical and weighty feeling at the same time. What’s your take on this artwork? Curator: Oh, I adore Shonibare's boldness. To me, this centaur is a loaded symbol. Replacing the head with a globe, a classic symbol of power and exploration, really jams a cultural narrative, doesn’t it? It prompts a head-scratching reconsideration of the classical figure. The Dutch wax fabric, his signature, then becomes another layer of complexity; originally inspired by Indonesian batik but mass-produced by Europeans and sold in Africa, thus creating multilayered hybrid cultural identities that reflect contemporary reality, particularly his British-Nigerian identity. Doesn't this resonate with how we re-write old mythologies with contemporary lenses, turning the familiar into the deeply strange and intriguing? Editor: That's fascinating! So the fabric is commenting on cultural exchange and its… less-than-ideal history? I was mostly focusing on the visual impact and didn’t even think about it that deeply. Curator: Precisely. It's a beautiful collision, really – classicism disrupted, elegance questioned, history unearthed. The sculpture ceases to be a celebration of mythology and starts to be, in some small but pivotal way, a prompt towards questioning. The weight is there. I think there are threads and strands within it. Editor: Wow, I'll never look at a centaur the same way again. Shonibare really makes you think. Curator: Indeed! He certainly does that, doesn’t he? Art isn’t about comfort but critical insight, right?