Yinka Ilori’s inward-seeking look at football racism takes stage at the HKW Museum this summer

Yinka Ilori has debuted a new pavilion at the HKW museum that will explore the complexities of racism and sports as part of the institution’s Ballet of the Masses—On Football and Catharsis programming, which takes place through the end of October in the German capital.

His design for Reflection in Numbers belies the notion that, as he states, “the audience must be held accountable for their actions.” The design of the pavilion stages the experience of players using a circular form and mirrors that create for the viewers a sense of the participatory role the play in effecting a “culture of exclusion” in otherwise festive matchday settings. 

A series of built-in West African calabash musical instruments – the symbol of participation and inclusivity – keys the pavilion’s visual metaphor. As an enabler of multisensory experiences, the component is vital also for the tangibility of the experiment (visitors are welcomed to play the instruments also).  In the end this effects a “collective symphony.” As a press release succinctly stated: “By entering this space, the visitor agrees to experience an unusual form of self-consciousness.”

Reflection in Numbers follows Ilori's previous first-ever permanent installation in Berlin called Filtered Rays. The pavilion is open now to visitors and will remain on view until the 31st of October this year.