現代美術界で重要な賞の一つである「ターナー賞」を2017年に受賞した、イギリス人アーティスト、キュレーターであるルバイナ・ヒミッド（Lubaina Himid）の作品集。ロンドンの「テート・モダン（Tate Modern）」で開催した展覧会に伴い刊行された。作者は1980年以降、イギリスのブラック・アート運動に貢献し、黒人としての経験や女性のクリエイティビティの表現と認知する場を作り、イギリスにおいてこの活動の中核的人物となっている。本書は作品を通して作者が表現している、絵画の歴史や背景、政治風刺、詩と話し言葉、建築と安息のため・創造性のための空間、テキスタイルとパターンが持つ言語を用いないメッセージへの探求など、そのキャリアにおける芸術的関心を取り上げている。作品へと昇華した作者の哲学が専門的なエッセイと共にまとめられており、またその作品や関心をより広い文脈で捉えるべく、寄稿者により文章が添えられている。

Lubaina Himid has long wanted to create a publication that explores the key themes and concerns in her work using a fresh and intriguing approach. This innovative exhibition book breaks from the traditional artist monograph and instead serves as a useful manual for readers, using a series of ‘how-to’ sections inspired by the artist’s work.

Contributions on topics such as ‘How to paint on things’, ‘How to write in code’, ‘How to do magic’, ‘How to be funny’, ‘How to make a life plan using poetry’ address the key artistic interests of Himid’s career, particularly her exploration of the history of painting, political satire, poetry and spoken word, architecture and spaces for feeling safe, and for creativity, textiles and the non-verbal messages of pattern. The artist contributes new texts of her own, and contributors from a variety of backgrounds and expertise will write from perspectives that set Himid’s work and artistic interests into wider contexts. The publication will also include a selection of the poetry that has influenced the artist throughout her career.

Initially trained in theatre design, Lubaina Himid is known for her innovative approaches to painting and to social engagement. She has been pivotal in the UK since the 1980s for her contributions to the British Black arts movement, making space for the expression and recognition of Black experience and women’s creativity. Over the last decade she has earned international recognition for her figurative paintings, which explore overlooked and invisible aspects of history and of contemporary everyday life. In 2017 she was awarded the Turner Prize.

Michael Wellen is Curator, International Art at Tate Modern.