The sweet sharp taste of limes

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall

This print by Lubaina Himid is from her Kanga series. The Kanga is a multi-coloured fabric often with a patterned border and a motto and is worn mostly by women, but also by men from East Africa. Himid, as the daughter of a textile designer from Zanzibar, has had a life-long association with and interest in textiles, which she brings to her art practice. The title of this work, which appears in the work itself, comes from a love poem by Audre Lorde. The work itself offers a starting point for a conversation between ideas of identity, and ownership – reflecting, as much of Himid’s practice does on post-colonial representation and the weight of black history.

Born in Zanzibar in 1954, Lubaina Himid moved to the UK as a child, where she studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art and Cultural History at the Royal College of Art. For over 40 years, she has actively encouraged the promotion and support of the Black Arts Movement, particularly work by women. In the 1980s and ‘90s, she curated a number of important group exhibitions including ‘The Thin Black Line' (ICA, 1985) and 'Unrecorded Truths' (Elbow Room, 1986). Himid currently lives and works in Preston and is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the winner of the 2017 Turner Prize. Selected solo exhibitions include: ‘Spotlights’, Tate Britain (2019); ‘The Grab Test’, Frans Hals Museum (2019); and ‘Work from Underneath’, New Museum (2019). In 2021 Himid presented a major monographic exhibition at Tate Modern, London.

Places

Subjects

poetry, lime, flower, fruit (as food type), kanga

Materials & Techniques

print (as object name), digital print, giclée, Hahnemühle Photo Rag, cotton paper

Artist

Lubaina Himid (1954 - )

Title

The sweet sharp taste of limes

Edition

Number 21 in an edition of 50

Date

2018

Medium

Giclée print on paper

Acquisition

Purchased from Chisenhale Gallery, January 2019

Provenance

Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 2019

GAC number

18784