The Doll House

2002

Yinka Shonibare

resin, wood, paper, fabric, plastic, ceramics

23,7 x 20,1 x 26,9 cm

Currently not on display

Acquired in 2003

Inventory number 2687

schenking / donation Peter Norton Family

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Description

'Doll House' is a miniature replica of Yinka Shonibare’s London home. The work recalls eighteenth-century dollhouses popular with the affluent elite. His trademark colourful ‘African’ fabrics appear in the form of the house’s upholstery. These fabrics, designed by Vlisco in Helmond, the Netherlands are made using the Indonesian technique of batik and are produced in the Netherlands for a West-African market. Throughout his oeuvre, Shonibare researches ethnicity, social class, race, and the creation of cultural identity. In this work, the Vlisco fabrics function as a symbol for the complexity of cultural identity.

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Context

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