63-Year-Old Lubaina Himid Becomes the First Black Woman to Win Turner Prize

Lubaina Himid has been awarded the Turner Prize 2017, becoming the oldest winner of the prize. The 63-year-old artist is also the first black woman to win in the prize’s 33-year history.

Established in 1984, the Turner prize is one of the world’s most prestigious awards for contemporary art that presented annually to a British visual artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation in the preceding year. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible for the prize. The age limit was lifted after the prize changed the rules this year.

Lubaina Himid was born in 1954 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art. She is now Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire.

Lubaina Himid. Naming the Money. 2004

Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chair of the judging panel, praised the artist for her uncompromising tackling of issues including colonial history and how racism persists today. Himid won for three of her shows this year, in Oxford, Bristol and Nottingham.

Lubaina Himid. Swallow Hard: The Lancaster Dinner Service. 2007.

She receives £25,000 as the winner, and runners-up this year, Hurvin Anderson, Andrea Büttner, and Rosalind Nashashibi, each gets £5,000. Himid will spend the money on working with other artists. In her acceptance speech, Himid thanked people who gave her sustenance during her “wilderness years”.

Lubaina Himid. A Fashionable Marriage (1987) at the Turner Prize 2017 exhibition.

Shortlisted work will continue to be on display at the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull until January 7, 2018.