Party Attire

From the installation "Party Time: Re-imagine America". Yinka Shonibare MBE

Matthew 22:1-14

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,  and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The end result of the contemporary art of Yinka Shonibare and the storytelling of Jesus Christ are identical: nice clothes and a big meal. They both weave narratives in diverse media that culminate with a scene whose focal points involve ornate costumes surrounding an elaborate banquet table. To understand how the two separately came to corresponding images independently one must understand the cultural context of both creators. Both freely reference their personal ethnic traditions but show the listener/viewer it's transcultural and transchronological implications. Both Jesus and Yinka were sharing timeless and global stories. Understanding the context of their nice clothes and big meal stories will also shed light on the meaning of all of their work.


How to Blow up Two Heads at Once (Ladies), Yinka Shonibare, MBE

The Artist

Yinka Shonibare is like many of the other successful artists of the YBA (Young British Artists) generation. He was born in London and received his MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London and has met astounding success being exhibited in the Venice Biennial, Smithsonian Institution, and being considered for a Turner Prize. Yet while a student one of his professors challenged the authenticity of his artwork. He asked Yinka why he wasn't creating "authentic African art." You see, Yinka was born in London but his parents were Nigerian immigrants and he spent portions of his childhood in the United Kingdom and Lagos, Nigeria. In contemporary times it may be understood as offensive for a non-Black professor to tell his Black student that his artwork isn't Black enough. Yinka's identity was not the one dimensional flat character that onlookers assumed it to be. He was Black but he was also Black British and the conception of identity worldwide was changing from something static to something dynamic. But this was the 80's and a young Yinka Shonibare humored his instructor. He went around town looking for "African" things to incorporate into his artwork. By 1994 he settled on the colorful Batik print clothing that is popular in Western Africa. By this point the colorful Batik prints were recognized worldwide by Black Africans, Black African immigrants in the West, Blacks from the African Diaspora and non-Black/non-Africans alike as the "African" look. Yet the history of Batik print was a little more intricate than the monolithic cultural notion that surrounds it. Batik is worn by Africans but it is not African itself. It is an Indonesian wax resist dye method that allows multiple colors to be printed on fabric. yet it was the Dutch who adopted this method and created the mass produced market in West Africa. Their factories in the Netherlands and Manchester, England churned out this print on American cotton (picked by Black American slaves from the African Diaspora) to clothe buyers in Nigeria. In this ornate global market Europe was creating the symbol of African identity. Yinka started creating scenes of Victorian opulence where the costumes (designed in the height of European historical fashion) are all created from Batik print cloth. These works comedically critiqued European and African notions of cultural, racial and national homogeneity. It also discussed colonialism, post-colonialism and the centuries old phenomenon of globalization. All of these cultural, historic and contemporary considerations are tied into the context of Yinka's nice clothes and big meal.


Three Graces, Yinka Shonibare, MBE

The Setting

Jesus' parable of the Wedding Banquet (known as a few other names) in Matthew 22:1-14 is similar to many of Jesus' other parables. The story is a sermon through narrative and symbols. The symbols refer to parties in Jesus' immediate first century context, yet they have lasting implications for following Christ in a contemporary setting. However mare than any other parable, Matthew 22:1-14 may have the most cultural considerations that need explanation to the reader. The details of wedding rituals in Jesus' day are key to understanding the symbols of Jesus' parable. First of all the marriage process had two parts, it is still the same today in traditional Jewish weddings. Wikipedia explains it this way:

"Technically, the Jewish wedding process has two distinct stages: kiddushin (sanctification or dedication, also called erusin, betrothal in Hebrew) and nissuin (marriage), when the couple start their life together. The first stage prohibits the woman to all other men, requiring a religious divorce (get) to dissolve, and the final stage permits the couple to each other. The ceremony that accomplishes nisuin is known as chuppah.
Today, erusin/kiddushin occurs when the groom gives the bride a ring or other object of value with the intent of creating a marriage. There are differing opinions as to which part of the ceremony constitutes nissuin/chuppah; they include standing under the canopy - itself called a chuppah - and being alone together in a room (yichud). While historically these two events could take place as much as a year apart, they are now commonly combined into one ceremony.^"

The last line is critical for our understanding of Jesus' parable: "historically these two events could take place as much as a year apart." So the community would become aware of the marriage long before what we understand as a "wedding ceremony" would take place. So like the parable, the guests would receive an invite long before the wedding and then be alerted again when the wedding was about to occur. Here's the kicker: nobody knew when the wedding would occur before hand and when they did, it would be immediate. Remember Jesus' parable of the Ten Virgins? It is based on the idea that they do not know when the bridegroom will arrive. He could show up at any time and they would have to be ready for the wedding to occur at any moment. This was the common practice. Not only were brides expected to be ready for a wedding at a moment's notice, so were the invited guests. So in Matthew 22:1-14, when the servants go out to announce the wedding the second time, it isn't an announcement of a wedding later on that year, later on that week or later on that day. The announcement was for a wedding that was happening now. The expectation was for the guests to drop everything and come now! So what was the guest to do who was in the middle of doing farm work or sleeping and had no formal attire on? Weddings in Jesus' time not only provided special clothing for the bride and the groom but also for each guest. It is like a fancy restaurant that requires that all male diners wear a jacket. For those who don't have a jacket, the restaurant provides one. The immediate cost of the banquet and clothing comes at great expense to the family that throws the wedding, therefore it is understandable that they would expect all invited parties to attend. Jesus' parable illustrating the kingdom of heaven as a wedding banquet then comes with the underlying themes of costliness, family and duty that all of his original listeners would understand. That is also the theme that belies the message to the present day reader. All of these cultural, historic and contemporary considerations are tied into the context of Jesus' nice clothes and big meal.



Big Boy, Yinka Shonibare MBE

The Story

The context of culture is key to gleaning meaning. So now that we understand the significance of fancy attire and elaborate feasts in the Anglo-Nigerian and Palestinian Jewish context, let's consider the meaning of them symbolically in Jesus' parable. It may not surprise you that the wedding of the King's Son is a reference to the marriage of Christ (the Son of God) to his people, the Church (known as the Bride of Christ). Throughout Scripture there have always been references to the relationship between Divinity and the Elect. God and Israel are often referred to as a married couple... often in a bad marriage. Yet the consummation of God's union with His people comes through His Son's self sacrificial ransom of them. And the People that the Son saves and takes as his bride is not only Israel, but the Elect among all the world. So when we see the servants announcing the Son's marriage in the beginning of the parable, it is an announcement of a kiddushin . It is the Prophets declaring that God's people have been betrothed or promised to Him. He has taken Israel to be His people and they take Him to be their God. This kiddushin is a sanctifying act. It testifies that there is yet a future date when God will ceremonially bind himself to the fullness of His people by revealing His fullness in the Messiah. So when the servants announce the wedding the second time, it is John the Baptist preaching that the wedding banquet/kingdom of God is at hand/now. Collectively these servants were rejected and killed. Those who murdered the prophets are punished by the destruction of their city (a less than veiled reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and all other previous destruction and diaspora by foreign invaders). Then the King asks the servants (the Apostles) to invite any and everybody to the wedding banquet. This is a reference to the admittance of Gentiles into God's people but also the poor, the sinful, the marginalized and anyone else whom the now judged religious leadership had failed to present the message of Mercy too. It is the open call of Grace. Yet the open call of Grace also comes with a covering of Grace. This is the wedding garment that the one wedding guest has neglected to wear. St. Augustine was the first expositor to point out that these garments were provided by the wedding party free of charge by the banquet host. He also saw the wedding clothes as symbolic of charity (works of unconditional love). Martin Luther agreed that the wedding garments had been provided for the guest but thought that the garment represented Christ himself (as our spiritual covering). John Calvin also had ideas about what the provision of the wedding clothes symbolized. In true Reformation fashion he focused it around the notion of faith and works:

"As to the wedding garment, is it faith, or is it a holy life? This is a useless controversy; for faith cannot be separated from good works, nor do good works proceed from any other source than from faith."

 I like to think that it is symbolic of the provision of holiness. Since Hebrews 12:14 says:

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord"

But then upon looking at the verse again, maybe it is holiness and peace with all men. Whether this covering is charity, faith, works, peace, holiness or Christ himself, I think that we can make the same conclusion. God has freely provided that which he requires. Ultimately the wedding garment is Grace, a free and unmerited gift. Those who have been invited to the banquet that is the kingdom of God have been given the Grace of charity, faith, works, peace, holiness and Christ himself to be covered in. All of the context of Grace is tied into God's nice clothes and big meal.



Scramble for Africa, Yinka Shonibare MBE

“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Royal invite

Politically Yinka Shonibare sees himself as a Republican. That is not to be confused with the American concept of a Republican as opposed to a Democrat in the United Sate's two party system. In the British context, a Republican is opposed to the Monarchy. A British Republican is an advocate of a Republic without the trappings (even ceremonial) of being governed by a Monarch. Yet Yinka Shonibare himself is part of the overall trappings of the British Monarchy. You may have noticed that on each image I have typed his name as "Yinka Shonibare MBE." The "MBE" stands for "Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". It is "the most junior and most populous order of chivalry in the British and other Commonwealth honours systems. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V," In 2004 Yinka was given this honor from the Queen for his service to the United Kingdom. The irony of receiving an honor from the empire was not lost on this Republican artist who critiques the evils of colonialism. yet in an interview Yinka shared that he was wooed by the grandeur of the monarchy whilst in the palace to receive honors from the monarch. Receiving a gift from a Monarch is hard to refuse. The conclusion of Jesus' parable ends with a notation about receiving a royal invite and gift: "For many are called, but few are chosen.” The parable of Matthew 22:1-14 centers around obedience to the King. The invite to the wedding is a command to attend. But solely focusing on this aspect will lead to the subtle overall truth behind the royal invite: it symbolizes friendship with the King. The guests have been given a gift by the Monarch. It is a very costly gift (for the King) that comes with a duty (for the guest). Yet all relationships (especially a friendship) come with those terms of gift and duty. Receiving a gift from a Monarch is hard to refuse, yet some do. That is the message of Jesus' story: Grace is free, Grace should be accepted, Grace is of ten rejected, Grace demands changes and Grace provides for that change. Many have been called t Grace, few responded, Some of those who verbally responded did not respond in their heart with change and therefore will not be chosen. The unstated ending of this parable is an invite. You have been called to dine with the King. What are you going to wear?



Dressing Down, Yinka Shonibare MBE