Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary

Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary presents the U.S. debut of Sanctuary City (2024), a major installation by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare (b. 1962, London, UK). The installation comprises 18 scaled-down replicas of historical and contemporary buildings that have served as sites of refuge for persecuted and vulnerable individuals across centuries. Displayed in a darkened gallery, each black-painted structure glows from within, its interior illuminated and lined with Shonibare’s signature Dutch wax textiles, transforming the space into a constellation of sanctuary havens that appear as beacons of light and hope.

Drawing on his interdisciplinary practice and longstanding engagement with colonial histories, migration, and cultural hybridity, Shonibare frames shelter as both a universal human need and a deeply political condition. Tracing the concept of sanctuary from ancient temples to modern safe houses, Sanctuary City reflects on the fragility of protection in a time of global displacement, rising nationalism, and humanitarian crisis. The artist notes, shelter is “one of the most pressing political concerns right now,” prompting viewers to consider who is granted safety, who is excluded, and what responsibility societies bear in offering refuge today.

Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary is organized by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator, Rose Art Museum, and Professor of Fine Arts and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University.

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Further Forward Foundation, the Sherman H. Starr Family Foundation, Tia Collection, James Cohan Gallery, New York, and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, Cape Town, London, and New York.