Yinka Shonibare

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Globushaus and Gottorfer Globus, there will be a reunion with the renowned British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. In 2023, two of his video installations shaped the events of the historical tour of Schloss Gottorf as part of the series Performing History. Now, the life-sized figure Discobolus (after Naukydes) is on display in the Globushaus. 

This figure is inspired by the Roman repetition of a lost Greek sculpture from the late 5th century BC. Naukydes was a significant sculptor of the Greek Classic period; the marble imitation of his sculpture was unearthed in 1792 by the dealer Gavin Hamilton on the Via Appia and is part of the collection of the Vatican Museums. The well-known figure was seen for centuries as a representation of the beautiful but tragic youth Hyacinth, who died in a competition and from whose spilled blood the mourning god Apollo caused a flower, the hyacinth, to bloom.

Shonibare presents his discus thrower in colorful painting, which cites the colors and motifs of West African fashion. The characteristic Dutch wax fabrics were originally inspired by Indonesian batik fabrics and mass-produced in the Netherlands and Great Britain for the Far Eastern market. Ultimately, however, the colorful fabrics found a colonial sales market primarily in West Africa. Since the 1960s, they have evolved into a strong symbol of African identity and independence. Shonibare uses the visual appeal of Dutch Wax fabrics to highlight the hybridity of cultural identities and the impact of colonial trade.