Yinka ShonibareArchive of Lost Memories III, 2025
Archive of Lost Memories series
In this new series of work, Yinka Shonibare develops out of the major installation produced for the 57th Venice Biennale Nigeria Pavilion.
'Archive of Lost Memories' revists The Benin Expedition of 1897, in which thousands of valuable spiritual and cultural objects and artefacts were looted from the Kingdom of Benin. Here, a small selection of the artefacts are replicated by hand in clay and displayed in a bespoke vitirine.
The selection of 10 artefacts, all of which are currently in The British Museum collection illustrates the breadth of the looting. It was not only the much-published Benin plaques which adorned the palace walls, but also object amongst them are everyday household objects, tools, musical instruments, ceremonial objects, and weaponry. The objects are displayed beside a bust of Sir Harry Rawson, a British naval officer who led the punitive expedition, painted in Batik style pattern, a painted enclosed in a vitrine, mimicking those looted Benin artefacts which ended up in Western Museum displays. The European ‘world’ museums founded in the Victorian and Edwardian periods were part of a wider strategy to legitimise the looting and stealing of objects during colonial campaigns.
The work is reclaiming these objects and displaying them here, not as ancient relics of a primitive culture but as objects that were part of a sophisticated and living culture. By remaking the objects in clay, similar in colour and texture to native Benin clay, the work pays tribute to African environmental intelligence and spirituality.
The work invites viewers to reflect on the enduring consequences of colonialism and the profound impact of cultural loss on identity and heritage. Urging a revaluation of how history is remembered and whose narratives are prioritised. The installation serves as a meditation on the need for restitution and the restoration of cultural dignity to the people from whom these artefacts were taken.
