The Zanzibar-born Turner Prize-winning artist is known for her work exploring colonial history and racism. She will represent the UK at the 61st Venice Biennale next year.
A pioneering figure in the Black British Art Movement, Himid has curated influential group exhibitions, including The Thin Black Line at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1985.
This summer, she will present Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985-2025 at the ICA. Her paintings, drawings, prints, and installations examine “the contribution Black people have made to cultural life in Europe for the past several hundred years,” she says.
Since winning the Turner Prize in 2017, Himid’s work—featuring painterly sculptural tableaux filled with political and social messages, as well as elements of absurdity and wry humor—has remained a significant yet often underrecognized presence in the British art scene.
Himid studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art in London, and her early fascination with the stage was evident in her 2021-22 Tate Modern exhibition, where her paintings and installations were arranged like theatrical scenes, positioning visitors both backstage and in the spotlight.
One of her most renowned installations, The Fashionable Marriage (1986), features an elaborate stage set with plywood figures. Inspired by William Hogarth’s Marriage à la Mode (1743-45), the piece offers a critique of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
Her other major projects include a commission by Liverpool’s Rapid Response Unit, which examined The Guardian’s representation of Black people, and Old Boat, New Weather (2021), created for the UK’s Government Art Collection, depicting a shack on a sailing ship.
“Himid expands the boundaries of painting through sound and sculptural installations, integrating new materials, textures, narratives, and formats,” says Emma Dexter, director of visual arts at the British Council Collection and commissioner of the British Pavilion.
Reacting to the news, Himid said, “I laughed out loud with both disbelief and joy when I received this incredible invitation to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2026.”
In the previous Venice Biennale, filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah represented the UK with his video installations on climate change and post-colonialism. At the 2022 edition, Sonia Boyce won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation.
Koyo Kouoh, a Cameroonian-Swiss museum director, has been appointed curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale, making her the first African woman to lead the event. Since 2019, Kouoh has served as the executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town.
