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Examining the construction of 'Englishness' and cultural identity
In this staged photograph, artist Yinka Shonibare takes centre stage. Dressed in Regency period costume, Shonibare takes on the historical guise of an upper-class gentleman, complete with embroidered waistcoat, frilled cuffs and powdered wig. The series, titled Effnik, consists of three elaborately staged, large-scale colour portraits.
The works in this series directly reference the Regency period in Western art history, to playfully question notions of 'Englishness' and the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalisation. Through examining race, class and the construction of cultural identity, Shonibare's works comment on the tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe, and their respective economic and political histories.
This work was commissioned by Autograph in 1997, and was displayed as part of the Black Chronicles II exhibition at Autograph in 2014. It is now cared for as part of our collection.
Effnik, on display at Autograph as part of the Black Chronicles II exhibition
Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962, London) is a British-Nigerian artist. He studied Fine Art at Byam Shaw School of Art, London (now Central Saint Martins, UAL) and received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London.
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 DC. 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 2021, Shonibare coordinated the Summer Exhibition at The Royal Academy and opened a major retrospective of his work at the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg. Shonibare’s works are in notable museum collections internationally. In 2019, Shonibare established the Yinka Shonibare Foundation which hosts and supports residencies, education and professional development opportunities for artists in the UK and Nigeria.
These photographs are in Autograph's permanent collection of photography, where they have been conserved and digitised
This work was exhibited as part of Autograph's exhibition Black Chronicles II.
Shared with thousands of school students and teachers as part of our Archive Learning Resource
Autograph's Director, Mark Sealy, in conversation with artist Yinka Shonibare.
WatchImages on page: 1-3): Yinka Shonibare, from the series Effnik, 1997. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025. Image credit: Autograph. 4) Yinka Shonibare, Effnik, on display in the Black Chronicles II exhibition at Autograph, 12 Sep - 29 Nov 2014, curated by Renée Mussai and Mark Sealy. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell.
About the artist / related: Yinka Shonibare CBE RA. Courtesy the artist and Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographed by Marcus Leith, 2014.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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