Lubaina Himid, the celebrated Zanzibar-born British artist, will represent the United Kingdom at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. The British Council announced that Himid, the 2017 Turner Prize winner known for her contributions to the British Black Arts Movement, will present a major solo show in the British pavilion next year.
“I laughed out loud with both disbelief and pleasure when I found out about this wonderful invitation to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2026,” Himid said in a press statement. “It is such a great honor and at the same time a brilliant and exciting opportunity to make something particularly special, which resonates with multiple audiences, communicates with complex histories and looks to a more collaborative future.”
Born in 1954 in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, then a British protectorate, Himid moved to Britain at an early age. There, she studied theater design at the Wimbledon College of Art in London, from which she graduated in 1976. Later on, she received a master’s degree in cultural history from the Royal College of Art in 1984.
Himid’s practice, which spans paintings, drawings, and sculptural installations, has focused on themes of colonialism, racism, and sexism, among other subjects. She gained prominence in the 1980s with intricately staged works like A Fashionable Marriage (1986), an elaborate theatrical tableaux made of plywood figures. This piece draws on Marriage à la Mode (1743–45), a series of engravings by British printmaker and social critic William Hogarth, to critique the conservative politics of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
“Himid pushes the boundaries of painting practice through sound and sculptural installation, incorporating new materials, textures, narratives, and formats in her work,” said Emma Dexter, director of visual arts for the British Council Collection and commissioner of the British pavilion. “Combining a radical optimism with social critique, she will transform the pavilion with her vibrant, articulate, and spatially dynamic artworks. Himid’s exhibitions take the visitor on an exploratory journey, which is why it’s so exciting to imagine how she will use the enfilade of six spaces in the British pavilion.”
Beyond her visual art practice, Himid is known for her extensive curatorial work, through which she uplifts Black voices in the arts. Some noteworthy exhibitions she curated in London include “Five Black Women” at the Africa Centre in 1983 and “The Thin Black Line” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London in 1985. The artist will revisit the latter with “Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985–2025,” a new exhibition she curated at the ICA London, set to open on June 24th.
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