Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum of African Art

Press Preview and Tour of 'Yinka Shonibare MBE' Exhibit at the National Museum
of African Art

WHAT: Press preview and tour of "Yinka Shonibare MBE" exhibit at the National
Museum of African Art

WHEN: Monday, Nov. 9
10 a.m. to noon

WHERE: Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art
Lecture hall, sub-level two

WHO: Johnnetta Cole, director, National Museum of African Art
Karen Milbourne, on-site curator, National Museum of African Art
Rachel Kent, senior curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia

Yinka Shonibare, one of the most celebrated Nigerian artists of this
generation, is the focus of an exhibition at the National Museum of African
Art. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia, the
exhibit features dramatic paintings, photographs, film and sculptural tableaux
that inspire reconsideration of class, race, nationality and history through
their sensual beauty and use of irony.

The exhibit occupies two levels of the museum, assembling works of art never
before seen together. The exhibit opens the National Museum of African Art's
multiyear celebration "Nigeria: Then, Now and Forever," a series of
exhibitions, public programs and special events showcasing the arts, culture
and people of Nigeria. "Yinka Shonibare MBE" opens to the public Nov. 10 and
continues through March 7, 2010.

About Yinka Shonibare
Born in England in 1962 and raised in Nigeria, Shonibare currently lives and
works in London, where he has gained international attention by exploring
issues of race and class through a range of media that includes sculpture,
painting, photography and installation art. Shonibare is well known for his
headless mannequins dressed in colorful batik fabrics.

CONTACT: Media only: Keith Blackman, +1-202-530-4585; keith.blackman@bm.com;
or Kimberly Mayfield, +1-202-633-4649, +1-202-431-5954 (cell)

Media Web site: http://newsdesk.si.edu

/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Nov. 2/

SOURCE Smithsonian National Museum of African Art