Lubaina Himid is the artist chosen for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2026

It will be Lubaina Himid (Zanzibar, 1954), winner of the Turner Prize in 2017, who will represent the United Kingdom at the 2026 Venice Biennale. The British Council announced last night the name of the artist who will represent the country at the Biennale’s 61st edition: thus, she will have the British Pavilion exhibition.

Lubaina Himi is known for a pioneering practice that addresses issues related to race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity. She often uses narrative and historical research to challenge dominant Eurocentric narratives and highlight the neglected contributions of black figures in Western history. Himid lives and works in Preston, UK, and is professor emerita of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire. She is among the pioneers of the Black British Art Movement, and was featured in several significant exhibitions in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Five Black Women (1983) at the Africa Centre in London and The Thin Black Line (1985) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London: both showcased the work of black women artists in response to their exclusion from mainstream galleries. In 2017, Himid was awarded the Turner Prize and in 2018 he received the honorary title of commendatore for his contribution to the arts.

On accepting the British Council commission, Himid said, “I laughed in both disbelief and delight when I discovered this wonderful invitation to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2026. It’s a great honor and at the same time a brilliant and exciting opportunity to create something particularly special that resonates with multiple audiences, communicates with complex histories, and looks forward to a more collaborative future.”

Emma Dexter, director of visual arts and collections at the British Council and commissioner of the British Pavilion, said, “Himid pushes the boundaries of painting practice through sound and sculptural installations, incorporating new materials, textures, narratives and formats into his work. Combining radical optimism with social critique, he will transform the Pavilion with his vibrant, articulate and spatially dynamic artworks. Himid’s exhibitions take the visitor on an exploratory journey, which is why it is really exciting to imagine how he will use the string of six spaces in the British Pavilion. We are really looking forward to working with Lubaina Himid on the British Council’s 2026 commission.”

Cortina Butler, Acting Director for the Arts at the British Council said, “Lubaina Himid’s work as an artist and curator invites a reassessment of history, identity and representation, and visitors to her exhibition will no doubt be challenged and delighted in equal measure. For nearly ninety years, the British Council has been the custodian of the British Pavilion in Venice, commissioning exhibitions of art and architecture on behalf of the United Kingdom that highlight our country’s diverse creativity. Artists in the exhibition have included Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Anish Kapoor, Steve McQueen and Phyllida Barlow. Lubaina Himid will be a worthy heir.”

In 2025, Himid will reinvent The Thin Black Line iconic exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts to expand contemporary interpretations and conversations about art making. Himid has a deep interest in the materiality and performativity of painting, an interest shaped by his degree in Theatre Design from Wimbledon College of Art.

This approach can be seen in his figurative paintings created on freestanding shaped boards that allow viewers to walk among them. A Fashionable Marriage (1986) is one of the first installations to critique race, gender and class, drawing inspiration from the satirical paintings of William Hogarth. Other noteworthy works include Naming the Money (2004), composed of 100 life-size cutouts that reimagine the lives of enslaved and forgotten black characters in European history, and Swallow Hard: The Lancaster Dinner Service (2007), a collection of repainted ceramic pieces that addresses Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

Her repainting operation allows her to superimpose new and old stories on the surfaces of everyday objects and furniture. Himid often employs storytelling and historical research, particularly in her series of paintings Le Rodeur(2016-17), named after a 19th-century French slaver ship infamous for a horrific event in 1819 in which captured Africans, many of whom had contracted an infectious eye disease during the voyage, were thrown overboard by the crew.

The figures Himid paints in various scenarios are obviously not set in a time period; they remind us of the past and its impact on the present. By reexamining and recontextualizing historical narratives, Himid challenges contemporary audiences to critically engage with collective perceptions of racial and cultural identity, amplifying marginalized voices and overlooked histories. The ongoing series Men in Drawers (2017-) features portraits painted inside found wooden drawers that transform everyday objects into containers for historical reflection. The drawers represent hidden spaces within domestic environments; by placing black figures within these compartments, Himid invites viewers to engage in a process of discovery. Himid next created Aunties (2023), a series of 64 painted and pasted narrow planks representing the “aunt,” an interstitial role that honors women in our lives that expand our understanding of kinship and family. In Strategy Paintings (2023) Himid delves into the complexities of problem solving and decision making by depicting groups of people gathered around tables discussing a problem, issue or topic with symbolic objects such as lemons, teeth and gondolas.

Lubaina Himid is the artist chosen for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2026

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