Lubaina Himid CBE

Russell and Robert meet Lubaina Himid CBE, the Turner Prize winning artist and cultural activist. Born in Zanzibar in 1954, Lubaina Himid is a British painter who has dedicated her four-decades-long career to uncovering marginalised and silenced histories, figures, and cultural expressions. She studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art and went on to receive an MA in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art. Himid currently lives and works in Preston, UK, and is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. In Autumn 2021, Himid will present a major monographic exhibition at Tate Modern, London and will also have a solo exhibition at Hollybush Gardens gallery in London.

We discuss her influential career in art as artist but also as a mentor and champion of other artist's work. Initially trained in theatre design, Himid is known for her innovative approaches to painting and to social engagement. She has been pivotal in the UK since the 1980s for her contributions to the British Black arts movement, making space for the expression and recognition of Black experience and women’s creativity. Over the last decade, she has earned international recognition for her figurative paintings, which explore overlooked and invisible aspects of history and of contemporary everyday life. In 2017, she was the winner of the Turner Prize and in 2018 she was bestowed with the honorary title of CBE for her contributions to the arts.

Current exhibitions include Risquons-Tout, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels. Significant solo exhibitions include Spotlights, Tate Britain, London (2019); The Grab Test, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands (2019); Lubaina Himid, CAPC Bordeaux, France (2019); Work From Underneath, New Museum, New York (2019); Gifts to Kings, MRAC Languedoc Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées, Sérignan (2018); Our Kisses are Petals, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2018); The Truth Is Never Watertight, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2017); Navigation Charts, Spike Island, Bristol (2017); and Invisible Strategies, Modern Art Oxford (2017).

Her work is held in various museum and public collections, including Tate; British Council Collection; Arts Council Collection; UK Government Art Collection; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Museums Liverpool; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. A monograph, titled Lubaina Himid: Workshop Manual, was released in 2019 from Koenig Books. This episode was recorded remotely on Wednesday 24th June 2020.

Special thanks to Lubaina for this enlightening interview, and Lisa Panting & Malin Ståhl of incredible gallery Hollybush Gardens (based in Clerkenwell, London). Follow @LubainaPics and @Hollybush_Gardens on Instagram and their official websites https://lubainahimid.uk/ and https://hollybushgardens.co.uk/

For images of all artworks discussed in this episode visit @TalkArt. Talk Art theme music by Jack Northover