Lubaina Himid (Zanzibar, 1954) is a British artist and curator whose career has been deeply intertwined with the critical examination of cultural history and the reclamation of Black identities. Born in the then Sultanate of Zanzibar, she moved to Great Britain with her mother at the age of four, following the death of her father. She trained at Wimbledon College of Art, where she studied Stage Design and graduated in 1976, and later obtained a Master's degree in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art in 1984. She is currently a lecturer in contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire.
Himid was one of the pioneering figures of the British Black Art movement in the 1980s, playing a crucial role in raising the profile of Black artists in the UK. Since then, she has developed an activist artistic practice, which continues to be exhibited in galleries in Great Britain and abroad. In parallel, her work as a curator has been fundamental: she organized exhibitions such as Five Black Women (1983) at the Africa Centre in London, as well as Into the Open (1984), considered the first major exhibition of a new generation of Black British artists.
Her work has received widespread critical acclaim. Regarding Naming the Money (2004), Louisa Buck highlighted how Himid reconstructs the silenced presence of Africans brought to Europe as slaves, representing them as musicians, artisans, and skilled workers, dressed in vibrant reinterpretations of 17th-century costumes. Each figure bears their original name and occupation alongside those imposed by their European owners, also incorporating a sonic dimension that intertwines African, Caribbean, and European music, underscoring the cultural complexity of these forced journeys.
Throughout her career, Himid has served on various councils and committees related to the visual arts in the United Kingdom. In 2010, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to the art of Black women, and in 2017 she won the Turner Prize, becoming the oldest person to win it after the rules were amended to remove the 50-year age limit. This institutional recognition consolidates a career marked by critical engagement and the reinterpretation of historical narratives from previously marginalized perspectives.
