Hackney Museum in bid to host artist Yinka Shonibare

The Hackney Museum. Pic: Colin Mutchler/Flickr

The Hackney Museum. Pic: Colin Mutchler/Flickr

Hackney Museum is currently competing with five other venues to host local contemporary artist and Goldsmiths alumnus  Yinka Shonibare for the October “Museum at Night” event.

Similar to The Museum of Croydon’s bid to host Gillian Wearing, a public vote ending at 8pm on Saturday May 16 will determine the winner of the competition.

As part of their bid to host Shonibare, the east London museum has asked visitors to submit their perfect Hackney supper recipes. Should the museum win the vote, Shonibare will pick his favourite recipes and the respective visitors will be invited to join him for supper, where he will interpret their recipes according to his creative sensibilities.

The selected residents will also participate in Shonibare’s creation of a collaborative installation representing the ultimate Hackney dish to express what Hackney means to them.

Born in London, Shonibare moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of three before returning to the UK to study Fine Art at Byam Shaw College of Art (now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) and then at Goldsmiths, where he earned his MFA.

His trademark medium is the bright African-style batik fabric he buys at Brixton market. Batik became a symbol of African identity and independence in the 1960s.

Shonibare was a Turner Prize nominee in 2004 and was awarded an MBE in the same year. He has described himself as a “’post-colonial’ hybrid” questioning the meaning of cultural and national definitions.

For more information about the event and how to vote, visit the website.

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