Tai Shani facts for kids

Tai Shani (born 1976) is a British artist. She creates art using performances, film, photography, and sculptures. She also writes stories and poems. Tai Shani uses her art to explore old stories and histories that might have been forgotten. She teaches art at the Royal College of Art in London.

In 2019, Tai Shani was nominated for the famous Turner Prize. This award celebrates new and exciting art. Her work DC: SEMIRAMIS was shown at Glasgow International and The Tetley in Leeds. She was also part of an exhibition called Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance. Tai Shani and the three other artists nominated for the prize asked the judges to let all four of them win together. They wanted to show that art can bring people together and celebrate different ideas. The judges agreed, and all four artists won the prize.

Tai Shani believes that art should be for everyone. She has talked about how some art, like performance art, can feel hard to understand for some people. She also supports artists and wants museums to be fair to their workers.

Tai Shani's Art: Exploring Stories

Tai Shani's art often tells stories in new and interesting ways. She uses different types of art to bring these stories to life.

DC: Productions and The Book of the City of Ladies

One of Tai Shani's major projects is called DC: Productions. This art project was part of her Turner Prize exhibition in 2019. It was inspired by a very old book from the 1400s called The Book of the City of Ladies. This book was written by Christine de Pizan. It tells stories about strong and important women from history and myths.

Tai Shani reimagined this old story in a new way. Some people have called her version "feminist science fiction." It mixes old ideas with new, futuristic ones.

Tai Shani also wrote a book called Our Fatal Magic. This book collects many of the stories and ideas from her DC: Productions project. The book combines different styles, like horror and sci-fi.

Other Interesting Artworks

Tai Shani has created many other unique art pieces.

• In 2016, she had a performance at the Tate Modern art museum in London. It was called 'Moans of approaching Death from unsatisfied Desire and other physical manifestations of Lovesickness'.
• She worked with a music group called Let's Eat Grandma and artist Maya Lubinsky. Together, they created a piece called "Mystical Best Friend, A Miracle Play." This was shown at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery.
• In 2019-2020, Tai Shani worked with artist Florence Peake. They created art for a project in Madrid, Spain. Their work explored ideas about different ways societies could be organized, without one person being in charge. They used sculptures and paintings to show these ideas.

Art and Important World Issues

Tai Shani and the other Turner Prize winners were asked to create a special artwork for Piccadilly Circus in London. This artwork was meant for the Anteros statue. However, the project did not happen. The artists wanted to include ideas about the conflict between Israel and Palestine in their art. They felt this was important because the statue was built to honor someone who helped with the colonization of Palestine a long time ago. The organizers did not want these mentions in the artwork.

Tai Shani believes that artists can use their work to support important causes. She has written about how the art world can help movements like boycotts to support Palestine.

Awards and Recognition

Tai Shani is known for her creative and thought-provoking art.

The Turner Prize

In 2019, Tai Shani, along with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, and Oscar Murillo, won the Turner Prize. This was a very special moment because they all won together. They wrote a letter to the judges explaining why they wanted to share the award. They said that their art dealt with many different important topics. They felt it would be wrong to choose one artist's work as more important than the others. They wanted to show unity and support for each other's art and ideas.

About Tai Shani

Tai Shani was born in the UK in 1976. She spent part of her childhood growing up in Goa, India. When she was 12, she moved to Brussels. She is of Jewish faith.