How does this artwork elucidate its Design?
The hardback books comprising the installation are wrapped in Dutch wax textiles. The use of these waxprints is a trademark of British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, whose artworks typically focus on colonialism and globalization. Based on Indonesian batik, produced in the Netherlands, and sold in West Africa, the textiles are common in his Nigerian homeland. Shonibare said that the multicultural nature makes them a "perfect metaphor" for The American Library, which aims to represent the multicultural history of the United States. The books are different in height and width, representing the diversity of experiences.Of the 6,000 books, 3,200 have names in gold foil on the spine. Many of these names belong to immigrants or the descendants of recent immigrants "who [have] contributed significantly to the arts, science, or culture"; most of these people have overcome discrimination, while others have anti-immigration stances despite their histories. The other names are of African Americans who migrated during the Great Migration from the American South to the North and figures related to the forced migration of Native Americans.Shonibare's studio chose which names to include from a list researched and suggested by the Cleveland Public Library. Shonibare had asked the library researchers to find immigrants representing a broad range of people with diverse origins, professions, races and sexualities. Thousands of names were considered, with Collinwood librarian Mark Tidrick managing name suggestions and using the library's resources to verify immigration research. They also strove to include some Cleveland-related figures, to connect the work to its own origins. Shonibare said that the use of books, to bear the names of immigrants, "act as metaphors for the autobiography of the individuals named." The remaining books without names are left blank, "inviting interpretation: They could represent stories yet to be told, stories that are lost, or stories that will never be told by those who want to come here and can't."
Cleveland Public Library American South Yinka Shonibare gold foil batik Native Americans globalization Dutch wax textiles Collinwood colonialism North Great Migration anti-immigration stances