Filling in the gaps: Lubaina Himid

Of her work, British artist Lubaina Himid says she is "filling in the gaps of history." Danielle Radojcin travels to The Holburne Museum in Bath to meet her at her new exhibition, Lost Threads, which, like much of her work, addresses the histories and legacies of colonialism and slavery.

Himid turns 70 this year. She was born in Zanzibar, but after her father tragically died of malaria when she was just a few months old, her British mother took her to live in the UK, where they settled in London. She eventually studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art, and the Royal College of Art. 

Over the course of her career, Himid has aimed to make art that creates a dialogue with her audience - she has said how the patterns in her work are a form of narrative; she has also made a point of championing under-represented artists, especially Black and Asian women. She became a key figure in the 1980s London, “Black art” movement, in which so called black art moved from the margins to the centre of British culture thanks in part to a series of influential exhibitions Himid curated. She was the first Black woman to win the Turner Prize, which she was awarded in 2017, and was elected to the Royal Academy in 2018, the same year she was made a CBE for services to art. Today, she  lives and works in Preston, where she is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. Himid sat down with me at the Holburne in the midst of the press preview of her new exhibition, in one of the main, very large rooms there, to tell me a bit about her work…

 

Episode artwork: Lubaina Himid, Man in a Pyjama Drawer, 2021 via Hollybush Gardens