Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska

Born in Zanzibar in 1954, Lubaina Himid is a British painter who has dedicated her four-decades-long career to uncovering marginalised and silenced histories, figures, and cultural expressions. She studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art and went on to receive an MA in Cultural History from the Royal College of Art. Himid currently lives and works in Preston, UK, and is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. She was the winner of the Turner Prize in 2017. In 2021 Himid presented a major solo exhibition at Tate Modern, London. Current exhibitions include Risquons-Tout, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels. For nearly two decades, UK-based artist Magda Stawarska has explored the threshold of memory, the sanctioned shape of history, and the active experience of listening. Through sound and performance, moving image, photography, painting, and printmaking, the artist unfolds overlooked and contested narratives of the past through her practice of “inner listening”. Stawarska recently had a solo exhibition Drift (2024) at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix during London Gallery Weekend. She participated in a duo show with Lubaina Himid Plaited Time Deep Water, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, (2023).

• 7 IntroductionAmy Tobin8 There is a historythat I know to be trueAmy Tobin38 Lubaina and Magda andZofia and Nina andAmelia Groom49 How Can I Help You?Lubaina Himid61 Letter to MagdaLubaina Himid66 Letter to MagdaAneta Krzemień73 List do MagdyAneta Krzemień82 Letter to ZofiaLubaina Himid86 Letter to NinaLubaina Himid102 Postcard to AnetaMagda Stawarska103 Postcard to LubainaMagda Stawarska105 AfterwordAndrew Nairne and Amy Tobin