Lubaina Himid

Lubaina Himid (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire.

Himid was among the first artists to take part in the Black Art movement in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, She was appointed MBE in June 2010 "for services to Black Women's Art",

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. at the Battersea Arts Centre, Five Black Women (1983) at the Africa Centre, and The Thin Black Line (1985) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts . Together the exhibitions challenged the collective invisibility of these women in the British art world, engaging with contemporary social, cultural, political and aesthetic issues.

Other exhibitions Himid has curated include: Into the Open (1984), 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.

Critical reception Himid considers that critical views changed after her work was shown by the Hollybush Gardens gallery in London 2013. Prior to this date she had exhibited in the UK but not internationally or in the largest UK institutions.

Awards and honours

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 Himid was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the June 2010 Birthday Honours "for services to Black Women's Art". There were, however, older nominees in the 1980s, before the age limit was introduced in 1994.

Apollo magazine named Himid as 2017 Artist of the Year.

Himid was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2018 "for services to Art".

Himid was elected a Royal Academician in 2018.

In 2023, Himid was awarded the Maria Lassnig Prize.

Notable works We Will Be (wood, paint, drawing pins, wool, collage, 1983) Bittersweet (series of paintings, 2022)

Public collections Himid's work is in many public collections, including Tate, Fitzwilliam Museum, 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 and the British pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale.

Solo exhibitions GA Fashionable Marriage, Pentonville Gallery, London (1986) The Ballad of the Wing , Chisenhale Gallery, London (1989), and City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (1989) Lubaina Himid: Revenge, Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale (1992) Plan B and Zanzibar, Tate St. Ives (1999) Inside The Invisible, St. Jørgens Museum, Bergen, Norway (2001) Double Life, Bolton Museum (2001) Naming the Money, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (2004) Swallow, Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster (2006) Swallow Hard, Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster (2007) Talking On Corners Speaking In Tongues, Harris Museum, Preston, Lancashire (2007) Kangas and Other Stories, Peg Alston Gallery, New York City (2008) Jelly Mould Pavilion, Sudley House, Liverpool and National Museums Liverpool (2010) Tailor Striker Singer Dandy, Platt Gallery of Costume, Manchester (2011) Invisible Strategies, Modern Art Oxford (2016–2017) Warp and Weft, Firstsite, Colchester (2017) Our Kisses are Petals, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2018) Solo show at Tate Modern, London, November (2021–2022)