Yinka Shonibare, MBE (b. 1962, London) 

Girl on Globe 2

2011, fibreglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, and globe, mannequin: 100.01 × 74.93 × 81.92 cm; diameter of globe: 80.01 cm.

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, By Exchange: William A. Clark Collection). Image courtesy of NGA.

This mannequin of a child precariously balanced on top of a world globe is one of several works by Shonibare referencing the current ecological crisis.  The dark reds and oranges which stain the different countries and continents are those of the heat maps we see on TV programmes about global warming. The headless girl dressed in Shonibare's trademark African fabric seems to symbolise the young people of the global South whose future will be most affected by the crisis and who must demand urgent change from their leaders.