Lubaina Himid

A Great Centre of Education for the District

1998–2004
Acrylic on canvas

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Aunties 1

2023
Paint and textile on found wood

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Aunties 11

2023
Paint and textile on found wood

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Aunties 12

2023
Paint and textile on found wood

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Aunties 6

2023
Paint and textile on found wood

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Aunties 9

2023
Paint and textile on found wood

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Cloves Numbing Harming Soothing Strong

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Distant Gondola

2004–2005
Acrylic on canvas

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Do The Shells Remember Him

1999–2023
9 diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Five Conversations

2019
Acrylic on found object

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Jug and Two Spoons

1989
Acrylic on canvas

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Nets For A Night & Day

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Never Harm A Clever Man

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Old Boat / New Money

2019
Acrylic on 32 wooden planks with audio

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Rain cannot Wash Away Memories

1999–2023
9 diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Sea Wave Goodbye Say Hello

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Shutters Only hide The Sun

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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Sprinkled Rosewater Is Always Pink

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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The Metal Handkerchief

2019
Acrylic paint on nine metal sheets

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Those Which Are Higher and Raise Men's Minds

2004–2005
Acrylic on canvas

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Which Give Them Employment When Other Employments Cease

2004–2005
Acrylic on canvas

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Womens Tears Fill The Ocean

1999–2023
Diptychs, acrylic on canvas, 8-channel multisensory installation

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About

Lubaina Himid CBE RA (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire. Her art concentrates on themes of cultural history and the reclamation of identities.

Himid was among the first artists to take part in the Black Art movement in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, and she continues to produce activist art that is exhibited in galleries both in Britain and internationally. She was appointed MBE in June 2010 "for services to Black Women's Art", won the Turner Prize in 2017, and was advanced to CBE in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to Art".

In 2025, Himid was chosen by the British Council to represent the United Kingdom at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Early life and education Himid was born in Zanzibar Sultanate (then a British protectorate, now part of Tanzania) in 1954 and moved to Britain with her mother, a textile designer, following the death of her father when she was just four months old. She attended Wimbledon College of Arts, where she studied Theatre Design, obtaining her B.A. in 1976. She received her master's degree in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art in London in 1984.

Curatorial work Himid has organized several exhibitions of work by black women artists, including Black Woman Time Now at the Battersea Arts Centre in London (1983) and Five Black Women, an exhibition in 1983 at the Africa Centre, London. Among other exhibitions she has curated are: Into the Open (1984), The Thin Black Line (Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1985), Unrecorded Truths (1986), Out There Fighting (1987), New Robes for MaShulan (1987), and State of the Art: Ideas and Images in the 1980s (1987). Into the Open, presented at Mappin Art Gallery in Sheffield, was widely regarded as the first major exhibit of the new generation of black British artists.

Naming the Money (2004), presents an exuberant crowd of 100 enslaved people, portraying their roles they played in the princely courts of Europe: These roles span from dog-trainers, toy makers and mapmakers to dancing masters, musicians and painters. They were bought as the "property" of wealthy Europeans at a time when Africans were regarded as units of currency and black servants were status symbols. Encountering these victims of 18th-century human trafficking, the visitor learns their original identities, as well as those imposed on them.

Board memberships Himid has held positions on many boards and panels. She is on the board of trustees for the Lowry Arts Centre Manchester. Additionally, she is a board member for Arts Council England Visual Arts, Creative Partnerships East Lancs and Arts Council England North West. Previous board memberships include Matt's Gallery, London (2002–05), and Tate Liverpool Council (2000, 2005). From 1985 until 1987 Himid was on the Greater London Arts Association Visual Arts Panel.

Awards 2010: Appointed MBE in the June Birthday Honours "for services to Black Women's Art". 2017: Became the first black woman to win the Turner Prize. She was the oldest person to be nominated for the prize since the rules changed to allow nominations of artists over the age of 50. There were, however, older nominees in the 1980s, before the age limit was introduced in 1994. 2017: Apollo magazine named Himid as Artist of the Year. 2018: Promoted to CBE "for services to Art." 2018: Elected a Royal Academician. 2023: Awarded the Maria Lassnig Prize.

Notable works We Will Be (wood, paint, drawing pins, wool, collage, 1983) Bone in the China: success to the Africa Trade (installation, c. 1985) Revenge: a masque in five tableaux (multipart installation, 1991–92) Zanzibar (series of paintings, 1999) Plan B (series of paintings, 1999–2000) Swallow Hard: the Lancaster Dinner Service (painted ceramics, 2007) Negative Positives (series of graphic works, 2007– ) Kangas (associated works on paper etc., various dates) Le Rodeur (series of paintings, 2016) Sometimes you don't know what you're getting until it's too late (series of paintings, 2020) Bittersweet (series of paintings, 2022)

Public collections Himid's work is in many public collections, including: Tate Victoria & Albert Museum Whitworth Art Gallery Arts Council England Manchester Art Gallery International Slavery Museum, Liverpool Walker Art Gallery Birmingham City Art Gallery Bolton Art Gallery New Hall, Cambridge The Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston The British pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Exhibitions

Now & Next

2026 Lisbon show

2026 ‘Handpicked: Painting Flowers’, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge

2026 Zanzibar, Lisson Gallery

2026 A Fashionable Marriage, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

Past Exhibitions

2025 The Woman Question: 1550-2025, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

2025 Kettles Yard: Lubaina and Magda, Kettle Yard

2025 Talisman, Art Academy, London

2025 Connecting Thin Black Lines, ICA

2025 Women in Revolt, Whitworth Manchester

2025 Finding My Blue Sky, Lisson

2025 Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists, Pallant House, Chichester

2025 Nets for Night and Day, MUDAM, Luxembourg

2025 Transfeminisms curated by Christine Eyene, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

2025 The Plant that Stowed Away, Tate Liverpool

2025 Prompts, New Zealand

2025 Lubaina Himid: Maria Lassnig Prize, Beiing China

— Charleston House

— Dovecot Studios - creating a new work

— Joint project with Magda for opening of Hereford Museum and Art Gallery

— Lakeland Arts - across venues

— Living Water, Salisbury Cathedral

— Loan to Heong Gallery, Heong Gallery, Cambridge

— New Commission for The Line, London

— New work in relation to John Soanes/Foundling, Cristea Roberts Gallery

— New York - Public Art Commission and Mexico City?

— Show for Greene Naftali

— Usher Gallery pavilion

— Venice Biennale, British Pavilion, Venice Biennale

A Great Centre of Education for the District

Aunties 1

Aunties 11

Aunties 12

Aunties 6

Aunties 9

Cloves Numbing Harming Soothing Strong

Distant Gondola

Do The Shells Remember Him

Five Conversations

Jug and Two Spoons

Nets For A Night & Day

Never Harm A Clever Man

Old Boat / New Money

Rain cannot Wash Away Memories

Sea Wave Goodbye Say Hello

Shutters Only hide The Sun

Sprinkled Rosewater Is Always Pink

The Metal Handkerchief

Those Which Are Higher and Raise Men's Minds

Which Give Them Employment When Other Employments Cease

Womens Tears Fill The Ocean

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