Do you remember wrapping your books in newspaper to protect them?



A library with thousands of batik-bound books celebrating the diversity of the British population has been acquired by Tate.

Yinka Shonibare’s artwork The British Library has gone on display at Tate Modern after being bought for the permanent collection.

Three walls of the gallery are taken up with shelves of 6,328 books. On 2,700 of the books are the names, printed in gold leaf, of first- and second-generation immigrants to Britain who have made significant contributions to the country’s culture and history.


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Yinka Shonibare is a British-Nigerian artist, whose work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalization. He was born in London and moved to Lagos, Nigeria at the age of three. Yinka returned to London to study Fine Art first at Byam Shaw College of Art and then at Goldsmiths College, where he received his MFA, graduating as part of the ‘Young British Artists’ generation.

Yinka Shonibare currently lives and works in the East End of London.

This is lovely! Gladdens my heart I tell you.

On May 4 1969, the body of David Oluwale was discovered face-down in the river Aire, close to Leeds' main sewage works. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by drowning. The loose change found on Oluwale's body was put towards a flimsy coffin and a pauper's funeral. The funeral directors were having a clearout and packed old telephone directories around the corpse. His body was committed to a common grave that contained nine others.

https://amp.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jan/05/yinka-shonibare-to-create-leeds-memorial-for-nigerian-david-oluwale-police-harassment-1960s