![Safiotra [Hybridités/Hybridities] by Yinka Shonibare at Fondation H in Antananarivo, Madagascar](https://artpulse.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Yinka-Shonibare-11.jpg)
Currently at Fondation H, Safiotra [Hybridités/Hybridities] by Yinka Shonibare,
his first major exhibition on the African continent
From April 11, 2025 to February 28, 2026, Fondation H invites British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare for a carte blanche entitled Safiotra [Hybridités/Hybridities], marking his first major showcase on the African continent. The exhibition occupies the 2,200-square-meter Fondation H building in downtown Antananarivo.
The solo exhibition features artwork spanning 15 years of Shonibare’s career, including The African Library (2018), part of Fondation H’s permanent collection. This monumental installation comprises 6,000 books wrapped in Dutch wax print fabric, half of which are embossed with the name of a personality who shaped postcolonial Africa. The installation is complemented by a digital interface providing historical and biographical information about these figures.
The exhibition also presents a series of iconic sculptures by Yinka Shonibare, such as Refugee Astronaut X (2024), created by the artist in the context of Madagascar. It further includes works from his series Hydrid Mask and Hybrid Sculpture, three Decolonized Structures from Yinka Shonibare’s 2024 solo show at the Serpentine (London), and earlier works like Alien Man on Flying Machine (2011) and Alien Woman on Flying Machine (2011).
Safiotra [Hybridités/Hybridities] is enriched by a curated selection from the Fondation H collection, chosen by Shonibare. This complementary exhibition features works by 19 artists, including Kelani Abass (Nigeria), Malika Agueznay (Morocco), Amina Agueznay (Morocco), El Anatsui (Ghana), Leilah Babirye (Uganda), Virginia Chihota (Zimbabwe), Jems Koko Bi (Côte d’Ivoire), Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali), Ibrahim Mahama (Ghana), Zanele Muholi (South Africa), Ouattara Watts (Côte d’Ivoire/USA), and Madame Zo (Madagascar). The curated dialogue explores the construction of African history post-independence.
The Malagasy word “safiotra” conveys the idea of hybridization—a fusion of two elements or identities that create a new entity while preserving their distinct characteristics. When applied to humans, it denotes a person of mixed heritage who integrates elements of both origins without being confined to either. This concept extends to objects, ideas, or concepts born from the convergence of contrasting realities.
Fondation H has organized a diverse array of events and activities for the Malagasy public. The opening highlight on April 11–12, 2025, features discussions and performances involving local and international personalities. Every Saturday from 14:00 to 16:00, Fondation H hosts public events, including conferences, lectures, workshops, performances, and screenings. Tailored tours and workshops are conducted year-round for specific audiences, such as children aged 6 to 14 (through school partnerships and children’s aid organizations) and disabled visitors, with accessible tours offered in Malagasy Sign Language or adapted formats in collaboration with NGOs.
A partnership has also been set up between Fondation H and G.A.S. Foundation, a foundation created by the artist in 2019 in Nigeria. Taking The African Library as a starting point, Fondation H and G.A.S. Foundation are proposing a cross-residency program, bringing together Antananarivo and Lagos.
An exhibition catalog accompanies Safiotra [Hybridités/Hybridities], published in June 2025 by Fondation H. The trilingual catalog (French/Malagasy/English) includes exhibition views, artwork photographs, and five commissioned essays, including contributions from Gus Casely-Hayford (Director of V&A East, London) and Professor Tiana Razafindratsimba Dominique (expert in language science and interculturality, University of Antananarivo).
Yinka Shonibare
The African Library, 2018
6000 hardback books, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, gold foiled names and website
Variable Dimensions
Unique
Collection Fondation H, Madagascar
© Goodman Gallery
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962) in London, UK, studied Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art, London (1989) and received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London (1991).
His interdisciplinary practice uses citations of Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalisation. Through examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity, his works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe, and their respective economic and political histories.
In 2004, he was nominated for the Turner Prize and in 2008, his mid-career survey began at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, travelling in 2009 to the Brooklyn Museum, New York and the Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. In 2010, his first public art commission ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London and is in the permanent collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
In 2013, he was elected a Royal Academician and was awarded the honour of ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in 2019.His installation ‘The British Library’ was acquired by Tate in 2019 and is currently on display at Tate Modern, London.
Shonibare was awarded the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award in 2021. A major retrospective of his work opened at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg in the same year followed by his co-ordination of The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London which opened in September 2021.
The survey solo exhibition, Yinka Shonibare CBE: Planets in My Head, opened in April 2022 at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan followed by the unveiling in June 2022 of a major new sculptural work, Wind Sculpture in Bronze I at Royal Djurgården, Stockholm.
In November 2022, Shonibare hosted the international launch of Guest Artists Space (G. A. S.) Foundation, a non-profit founded and developed by the artist. The Foundation is dedicated to facilitating cultural exchange through residencies, public programmes and exhibition opportunities for creative practitioners from around the world. The live/work residency spaces are set across sites in Lagos and a rural working farm in Ijebu, Ogun State.
To mark Sharjah Biennial’s 30th anniversary in February2023, Shonibare was commissioned to create a series of new works for the exhibition. He also unveiled a new outdoor sculpture commissioned by the David Oluwale Memorial Association in Aire Park, Leeds as part of Leeds 2023.
In 2024, the Serpentine, London UK, presented a solo exhibition of works in their Serpentine South gallery titled Suspended States. Shonibare’s work is also featured at the Venice Biennale 2024 as part of the Nigerian Pavilion, in the group show: Nigeria Imaginary.
Shonibare’s works are in notable museum collections internationally, including the Tate Collection, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and VandenBroek Foundation, The Netherlands.
