Lubaina Himid

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = Professor

| name = Lubaina Himid

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|RA|size=100%}}

| image = Lubaina Himid Conférence-discussion au Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne décembre 2022.jpg

| alma_mater = Wimbledon School of Art
Royal College of Art

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1954}}

| birth_place = Sultanate of Zanzibar

| website = {{URL|lubainahimid.uk}}

| nationality = British

| years_active = 1983–present

| occupation = Artist, professor, curator

| awards = Turner Prize (2017)

}}

Lubaina Himid {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|RA}} (born 1954) is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire.{{London Gazette |issue=59446 |supp=y |date= 12 June 2010| page=17}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bmagic.org.uk/people/Lubaina+Himid|title=Biography for Lubaina Himid|publisher=Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery|access-date=6 March 2011|archive-date=8 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808091201/http://www.bmagic.org.uk/people/Lubaina+Himid|url-status=dead}}[http://www.lubainahimid.info/full_cv Biography; Full CV]. Lubaina Himid website. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115936/http://www.lubainahimid.uk/full_cv |date=2 April 2015 }} Her art focuses on themes of cultural history and reclaiming identities.[http://www.northernartprize.org.uk/2010-prize/2010-shortlist/lubaina-himid "Lubaina Himid"], Northern Art Prize. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127124248/http://www.northernartprize.org.uk/2010-prize/2010-shortlist/lubaina-himid |date=27 January 2011 }}

Himid was one of the first artists involved in the UK's Black Art movement in the 1980s and continues to create activist art which is shown in galleries in Britain, as well as worldwide.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-20|title=Interview {{!}} Lubaina Himid: 'The beginning of my life was a terrible tragedy'|first=Charlotte|last=Higgins|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/nov/20/lubaina-himid-the-beginning-of-my-life-was-a-terrible-tragedy|access-date=2021-11-20|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Himid was appointed MBE in June 2010 "for services to Black Women's Art", won the Turner Prize in 2017{{r|bbc}} and was promoted to CBE in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to Art."

Early life and education

Himid was born in Zanzibar Sultanate (then a British protectorate, now part of Tanzania) in 1954{{cite book |last1= |title=Great Women Artists |date=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=188}} and moved to Britain with her mother, a textile designer,{{cite news |last= Spence |first= Rachel |title= British artist Lubaina Himid rides a wave of overdue recognition |url= https://www.ft.com/content/b492a9f0-dcae-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6 | date= 20 January 2017| newspaper= Financial Times |location=London| accessdate=4 May 2017}} following the death of her father when she was just four months old.{{cite news |last= Judah |first= Hettie |title= President with a torpedo in his crotch: how the works of Lubaina Himid speak to Trump times |url= https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jan/18/lubaina-himid-artist-slavery-race-issues-zanzibar-trump-reagan| date= 18 January 2017|newspaper= The Guardian |location=London| accessdate= 3 May 2017 }} She attended the Wimbledon College of Art, where she studied Theatre Design, obtaining her B.A. in 1976.{{cite web |url= http://www.uclan.ac.uk/staff_profiles/lubaina_himid.php|title= Prof. Lubaina Himid, MBE: Professor of Contemporary Art |author= |website= www.uclan.ac.uk |publisher= University of Central Lancashire | accessdate= 4 May 2017 }} 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{{Cite book|last=Pilcher|first=Alex|title=A Queer Little History of Art|publisher=Tate Publishing|year=2017|isbn=978-1-84976-503-9|location=London|pages=94}} at the Battersea Arts Centre in London (1983) and Five Black Women, an exhibition in 1983 at the Africa Centre, London.{{cite web|url=http://new.diaspora-artists.net/display_item.php?id=43&table=artists&exhibitionslink=expand|title=Lubaina Himid MBE, CBE|website=Diaspora-Artists.net|accessdate=10 March 2016}} Among other exhibitions she has curated are: Into the Open (1984), The Thin Black Line (Institute of Contemporary Arts, 1985),[http://makinghistoriesvisible.com/curations/thin-black-lines/ "Thin Black Line(s)"], Making Histories Visible. Unrecorded Truths (1986), Out There Fighting (1987), New Robes for MaShulan (1987), and State of the Art: Ideas and Images in the 1980s (1987).{{Cite book|title=Recordings : a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art|last=Melanie|first=Keen|date=1996|publisher=Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design|isbn=1899846069|location=London|oclc=36076932}} 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.{{Cite book|url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/40869639.html|title=Contemporary women artists|last1=Hillstrom|first1=Laurie Collier|last2=Hillstrom|first2=Kevin|date=1999|publisher=St. James Press|location=Detroit|isbn=9781558623729|language=en}} 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.{{Cite book|title=Great women artists|others=Morrill, Rebecca,, Wright, Karen, 1950 November 15-, Elderton, Louisa|date = 2 October 2019|isbn=978-0-7148-7877-5|location=London|oclc=1099690505}}

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.

Reviewing an updated version of Himid's 2004 work Naming the Money for The Daily Telegraph in February 2017, Louisa Buck noted:

"Himid's work has long been concerned with black creativity, history and identity and this animated throng represents the Africans who were brought to Europe as slave servants. There are drummers, dog trainers, dancers, potters, cobblers, gardeners and players of the viola da gamba, all decked out in vivid versions of 17th century costume. Labels on their backs identify each individual, giving both their original African names and occupations as well those imposed by their new European owners, and these poignant texts also form part of an evocative soundtrack, interspersed with snatches of Cuban, Irish, Jewish and African music."{{cite news |last= Buck |first= Louisa | author-link= Louisa Buck |title= Lubaina Himid: a trio of UK shows shines a light on the under-appreciated hero of black British art |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/art/lubaina-himid-trio-uk-shows-shines-light-under-appreciated-hero/| date= 17 February 2017|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph |location=London| accessdate= 3 May 2017 }}

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 MBE in the June 2010 Birthday Honours "for services to Black Women's Art".

In 2017 Himid became the first black woman to win the Turner Prize.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/dec/05/lubaina-himid-becomes-oldest-artist-to-win-turner-prize|title=Lubaina Himid becomes oldest artist to win Turner prize|last=Brown|first=Mark|date=5 December 2017|work=The Guardian|accessdate=5 December 2017|issn=0261-3077}} 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.{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39783661 |title= Turner Prize: Black painting pioneers break award age barrier |author= |date= 3 May 2017|website= BBC News Online | accessdate= 3 May 2017 }} 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.Barnard, Imelda (21 September 2017), [https://www.apollo-magazine.com/artist-of-the-year-winner-apollo-awards-2017/ "Artist of the Year"], Apollo.

Himid was promoted to CBE in 2018 "for services to Art."{{London Gazette |issue=62310 |supp=y |page=B9 |date=9 June 2018}}Boardman, Lyndsey (12 June 2018), [https://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/lubaina-himid-cbe.php "CBE for Turner Prize winner and UCLan Professor"], University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

Himid was elected a Royal Academician in 2018.{{cite web |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/lubaina-himid-ra-elect |title=Lubaina Himid – Artist |publisher=Royal Academy of Arts |location=London}}

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){{Cite book |title=Being and belonging: contemporary women artists from the Islamic world and beyond |date=2023 |publisher=ROM |isbn=978-0-300-27509-4 |editor-last=Suleman |editor-first=Fahmida |location=Toronto |editor-last2=Royal Ontario Museum}}
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, and the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston.[https://lubainahimid.uk/about/bio/ "Bio"], Lubna Himid website.[https://lubainahimid.uk/about/work-in-collections/ "Work in collections"], Lubaina Himid.

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)[https://www.modernartoxford.org.uk/event/lubaina-himid-invisible-strategies/ "Lubaina Himid: Invisible Strategies | 21 January — 30 April 2017"], Modern Art Oxford.
Warp and Weft, Firstsite, Colchester (2017){{Cite web |title=Lubaina Himid: Warp and Weft {{!}} What's On |url=https://firstsite.uk/event/lubaina-himid-warp-and-weft/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Firstsite |language=en-GB}}
Our Kisses are Petals, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2018){{cite web|first1=Baltic|last1=Mill|accessdate=11 May 2018|title=Lubaina Himid :: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.|url=http://baltic.art/whats-on/exhibitions/lubaina-himid|website=baltic.art}}
Solo show at Tate Modern, London, November (2021 - 2022)

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

[s.n.] (5 December 2017). [https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42244324 Turner Prize 2017: Lubaina Himid's win makes history]. BBC News. Accessed December 2017.

}}

External links

[https://lubainahimid.uk/ Official website]
[http://www.jellypavilion.info Jelly Pavilion]
[https://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TRANSCRIPTS/021T-C0466X0249XX-0000A0.pdf National Life Stories: Artists Lives: Lubaina Himid]. Interviewed by Anna Dyke, British Library Sound Archive.
[https://artuk.org/discover/artists/himid-lubaina-b-1954/view_as/grid/search/artists:himid-lubaina-b1954/page/1 Lubaina Himid] at Art UK

Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century British women artists

Category:21st-century British women artists

Category:Academics of the University of Central Lancashire

Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Art

Category:Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts

Category:Black British artists

Category:British art curators

Category:British contemporary artists

Category:British installation artists

Category:British women curators