The Great Migration Library
(Poets, Historians, Philosophers)

The Great Migration Library (Historians, Poets, Philosophers) is a celebration of the diversity of the American population and an instigator of discovery and debate. The installation consists of hundreds of books covered in the artist’s signature Dutch wax printed cotton textile.

Printed in gold along the spines of many of the books are the names of Historians, Poets and Philosophers who participated in or are descendants of those who were part of the Great Migration from 1916 to 1970, in the United States. This mass movement of African Americans from the rural Southern states to the urban Northern states of the United States was caused by poor economic conditions as well as racial segregation and discrimination. It also saw the development of African American’s establishing influential communities of their own within the then-largest cities in the United States.

These names include Timuel Black, Alice Childress, Sarah Webster Fabio, William Leo Hansberry, Maulana Karenga, David Levering Lewis, Patricia Smith.

These people have all made a significant contribution to the fields of History, Poetry and Philosophy and shaped the social and cultural landscape of the country. Most of these people have also experienced varying degrees of discrimination and hardship during and after their or their family’s relocation. Another set of books features the names of people who have spoken out against the geographic and societal move of African Americans and who have actively made it harder for people to migrate, settle and work in the northern states of the United States. 

The work highlights the contribution and talent in the field of History, Poetry and Philosophy that was partly borne out of, partly thrived despite of structural discrimination and existential threat.

The Great Migration Library is inspired by the ongoing debates about migration and diversity. It represents those seen as the ‘other’ who have made a valuable contribution to the nation’s history. However, it also looks at the people who have spoken out against those they don’t see as ‘truly American’ to further explore these complex issues at the forefront of American life today.

Artist's Biography

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 globalization. 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.

This year, Shonibare was awarded the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery Art Icon Award. A major retrospective of his work opened at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg in May 2021 followed by his co-ordination of The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London which opened in September.

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.