Lubaina Himid

Be inspired by artist Lubaina Himid and make an artwork that explores painting, appropriation and storytelling
  • Making
  • Artwork
  • Key Stage 1
  • Key Stage 2
  • Key Stage 3
  • Key Stage 4
  • Key Stage 5
  • Painting
  • Collage
  • Identity
  • Storytelling
  • Community

    • You will need

    • Images of artworks and objects to inspire your students. Use our Discover Art resources to find inspiration!
    • Paints and paintbrushes
    • Materials to paint on: paper, canvas, fabric, board or any other material
    • Scissors
    • Tape or glue

    Explore the artwork

    Lubaina Himid CBE RA
    Freedom and Change (1984)
    Tate

    © Lubaina Himid, courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London

    Your students don’t need to know anything about an artwork or artist to start exploring it.

    Use these quick group activities to build their confidence and curiosity in sharing their first responses to the artwork. Some artworks they might like straight away, some they might not.

    Discovering art can be new, exciting and sometimes confusing. There are no right or wrong ways to respond!

    In pairs or as a group, take it in turns to imagine the artworks answering these questions and telling their story.

    • What are you made from?
    • When were you made?
    • What has happened here?
    • Do you want me to feel sad or joyful, or something else?
    • What else would you like to say?

    In pairs or as a group, use your body to respond to the artwork.

    • Mirror movements or shapes in the artwork
    • Imagine sounds the artwork might make
    • Trace the artwork in the air with your hands
    • Move like the artwork
    • What else could you do?

    About the artwork

    Freedom and Change 1984 is an installation that has at its centre an image of two Black women dancing or running barefoot painted onto a pink bed sheet. They are holding hands high in the air as if about to twirl joyfully. One woman throws her head back as she kicks her leg up, the other’s gaze is directed ahead. The sheet is hung against the wall from a rod so that the bottom of the fabric just touches the floor.

    The piece appropriates, or has been created in response to, Two Women Running on the Beach (The Race) 1922 by Pablo Picasso. This painting shows two white women running in ecstasy along a beach, with their white dresses slipping down to expose their breasts. Himid’s work depicts two Black women and six additional characters: a pack of four snarling black dogs to the right, which are connected to the central painting by their leads, and the heads of two bald white men trapped in the sand to the left. The male characters are painted onto plywood which has been cut to size and affixed to the wall at ground level, so that it appears as if the women could be kicking sand into their faces.

    Lubaina Himid’s works have often featured women together, quietly involved in interactions that the artist has described as both complex and ordinary. Her paintings often respond to omissions of Black women in Western art history. She says, ‘When depicting women together in paintings, you automatically, whatever you do, expose them to the history of the male gaze. So in order to give them agency you need to ask them to stare out together towards that gaze in a very direct way.’

    Make

    Freedom and Change prompts us to consider Black joy and womanhood in art. In this activity, think about how you can tell your own stories through painting.

    1. Look through the images of artworks you have gathered and pick 3–5 things that inspire you. These could be people, objects, patterns, animals, plants and nature or anything else that catches your eye!
    2. Make quick, small paintings of the images – or parts of images you’ve chosen onto different materials. These paintings do not need to be exact copies! How do you want to paint? What changes do you want to make to the images you’re inspired by?

    Adapt

    Use the artwork images as your collage material and paint directly on top of them. Make new paintings by putting together different stories from your painting-collage. Share these with a partner.

    You could also use photographs from home, or of people and objects that are important to you.

    3. Cut out the paintings you’ve made and arrange them together to tell a story. You can stick your new image together with tape or glue or you can continue moving them around to tell new stories.

    How do the different parts connect together?

    Who are the characters and what are they up to?

    4. Share your painting-collage with a partner.

    What stories do they see in your work?

    Can they discover something unexpected that you didn’t see?

    5. At the end of your lesson, bring all of your pieces to the front of your classroom and look at them together. Find each other’s stories and celebrate the artwork you’ve just made!

    What have you learned by experimenting with painting and collage?

    What do the materials you chose represent to you?

    Extend

    Stick your collages directly onto the wall (or onto a display board/large sheet of paper), taking inspiration from the way Himid installs her artwork. Everyone in the class can do this together, adding the different paintings to a big, shared collage.

    Then, point out the stories you can find: where do your paintings connect with your classmates’ paintings? What’s changed in your own stories?

    Make new painting-collages inspired by your shared class story, then do it all again!

    How to use art makes

    Making art is a powerful way to learn new skills, explore ideas and express ourselves creatively. Encourage your students to discover new materials, techniques and methods inspired by great artists at Tate.

    1. Prepare
    • Project the artwork in your classroom and/or print off copies for your students to have in front of them.

    2. Explore (10 minutes)

    • Invite your students to respond to the artwork through the group activity.
    • Read the background information on the artwork and the artist.

    3. Make (30 minutes)

    • Follow the step-by-step instructions.
    • Use the Adapt section for accessible alternatives to this activity.
    • Use the Extend activity within the same lesson or in a future session.

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