Catalogue: Yinka Shonibare, Fabric-ation

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) recently opened the most extensive exhibition to date by Yinka Shonibare (until 1 September). When the installation was underway the Underground Gallery, which is filled entirely with Shonibare’s work, was closed to the public.

To ensure areas of the park are only closed for a short time, our changeover periods are kept as short as possible. However, with large-scale indoor and outdoor works this isn’t easy. In just a few weeks we removed more than 200 works from the previous Joan Miró exhibition and prepared major, complex installations for Shonibare.

Post-opening publication

Publishing is an important area of our work. Catalogues extend the lifespan of exhibitions and allow us to engage in a wider debate. We aim to produce catalogues that combine newly commissioned texts with stunning images.

As always, we are using in-situ photography for the Shonibare book, making it impossible to complete the catalogue before the opening of the exhibition. Publishing after the show opens does present a challenge, but it is always worth the wait.

The unique relationship between the work and YSP’s 18th-century landscape and light-filled galleries sets our publications apart and reveals the wider context of the curated show. This is one reason that sales are good, with the result that our exhibitions are profitable.

Texts are commissioned in advance so they can be edited, proofed and placed into the design before the busiest period of installation commences, reducing the amount of work to be done closer to the deadline.

Limited editions

With the texts prepared, it’s a case of waiting until the exhibition is completely ready before photography can begin. Even then, we might have to wait for good light and weather conditions to make the most of YSP’s greatest assets – location and scale.

For the Fabric-ation catalogue, Shonibare’s Wind Sculptures are particularly interesting. As major new works for the open air, they have not been seen before and represent a significant development in the artist’s practice.

There was no existing photography of them so this is the first opportunity to show them in a catalogue and disseminate this work to a wider audience.

Before the catalogue is published we take pre-orders and promote it widely for the duration of the show. In addition to the standard hardback book, we are producing 50 limited edition books, which will be bound in Shonibare’s signature Dutch wax fabric. These will be made by hand in Italy and will be beautiful.

Clare Lilley is the director of programme at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park