Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary Opens Feb. 11 at Brandeis’ Rose Art Museum

A new exhibition by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare opens February 11, 2026, at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. On view through January 3, 2027, Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary centers on the U.S. debut of Shonibare’s monumental installation Sanctuary City (2024), an immersive work built from architecture, light, and textile that presses questions about refuge, belonging, and protection.

The exhibition is organized by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator at the Rose Art Museum and Professor at Brandeis University.

A city of shelter, scaled down

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (United Nations Headquarters), 2024.²

Sanctuary City is an installation of 18 miniature buildings, each a scaled-down replica of a historical or contemporary structure associated with refuge. The Rose describes the selection as spanning centuries, from ancient temples and medieval cathedrals to modern safe houses and shelters.

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (Notre-Dame de Paris), 2024.³

The staging carries the mood. The models are painted black and installed in a darkened gallery, with light glowing from within each structure and shining through windows and openings. The work reads as a constellation of illuminated sites, turning architecture into a nightscape.

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City, 2024.⁴

Shonibare lines the interiors with Dutch wax printed cotton textiles, a signature material in his practice. Pattern and color become an interior skin for these places of refuge, often glimpsed through the lit openings.

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (Tokeiji Temple), 2024.⁵

Why “sanctuary” feels immediate right now

The Rose positions Sanctuary City in a contemporary reality shaped by forced migration, displacement, and humanitarian crisis. In that context, the installation returns to a basic question: what does sanctuary mean, and how fragile is it when people need it most?

Shonibare’s framing in the exhibition materials is direct: “Shelter is one of the most pressing political concerns right now.”

Dr. Ankori describes the installation as a prompt to think about sanctuary across physical space and moral responsibility, with a call that reaches from history into the present.

Dutch wax textiles as a global signal

Shonibare’s use of Dutch wax textiles often functions as a visual shorthand for entangled histories of trade, empire, and the movement of goods and people across borders. In the Rose’s description, the fabric carries historical and political charge as a symbol of cultural hybridity and the legacies of colonial commerce.

In Sanctuary City, the textiles live inside the buildings. From the outside, the city reads as black silhouettes in a dim space. Inside, there is pattern and illumination. That exterior-to-interior shift sharpens the question of access: who enters, who waits outside, and what safety looks like when it becomes a guarded resource.

Shonibare’s wider practice, in brief

The museum describes Shonibare as a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, installation, photography, film, painting, and textile-based work, widely known for examinations of race, class, cultural identity, and postcolonial power. Across his practice, he frequently revisits European art history and literary narratives to surface what gets omitted and who bears the consequences.

In the context of Sanctuary City, architecture becomes a language for a recurring question in migration debates: who is allowed to belong, and who is excluded from safety?

About the artist

Shonibare was born in London in 1962 and is described by the Rose as British-Nigerian. His studies included Byam Shaw School of Art and Goldsmiths, University of London.

The Rose notes that his work has appeared in major international exhibitions and biennials in recent years, including Suspended States at Serpentine South in London (2024) and the Nigerian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2024), along with commissions for Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023) and retrospectives in Salzburg and Sydney. The museum also points to the public project Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle (2010) and honors including his status as a Royal Academician (since 2013) and receiving a CBE in 2019.

His work is held in collections that include Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. The Rose also highlights his role as founder of the Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation in Lagos and Ijebu, Nigeria, supporting international cultural exchange.

Visitor details

• Exhibition: Yinka Shonibare: Sanctuary
• Featured work: Sanctuary City (2024)
• Dates: February 11, 2026 – January 3, 2027
• Venue: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02453
• Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 AM–5 PM
• Admission: Free

Image Credits

• Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (Amnesty International), 2024. Wood, paint, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, LED lights. Courtesy of Tia Collection. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York, and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo: Jo Underhill. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.
• Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (United Nations Headquartes), 2024. Wood, paint, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, LED lights. Courtesy of Tia Collection. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York, and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo: Jo Underhill. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.
• Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (Notre-Dame de Paris), 2024. Wood, paint, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, LED lights. Courtesy of Tia Collection. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York, and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo: Jo Underhill. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.
• Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City, 2024. An installation of 18 miniature buildings. Wood, paint, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, LED lights. Installation view, Suspended States, 2024 Serpentine South. Photo: © Jo Underhill. Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Serpentine. Courtesy Tia Collection. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.
• Yinka Shonibare CBE, Sanctuary City (Tokeiji Temple), 2024. Wood, paint, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, LED lights. Courtesy of Tia Collection. Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, and New York, James Cohan Gallery, New York, and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo: Jo Underhill. © Yinka Shonibare CBE. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.