Want to see your writing published in the next issue of Tate Etc. alongside the work of world-renowned artists and writers?
Tate Collective are invited to write 500 words in response to a painting included in Lubaina Himid’s exhibition at Tate Modern. Lubaina Himid is open until 2 October 2022.
Himid 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. As Himid has said, many of her paintings ‘try to show the tiny moments of huge significance which happen every day but which are almost so minuscule that you cannot pin them down.’
The winner will have their writing published in the Autumn 2022 issue of Tate Etc. and will receive a fee of £250. Runners-up will also have their text published on Tate’s website and will receive a goody bag from Tate Publishing.
How to submit
Please select one artwork to focus on and make sure to include the title of the work in your email. The writing should be non-fiction. Submit up to 500 words to us at collective@tate.org.uk. Please format the file name and subject line of your email as TateEtc_Last Name_First Name_Title of Piece. We won't be able to accept any mislabelled entries. Please submit your piece as a word doc. or a PDF.
In your email, please include:
- Your name
- Your date of birth
- Your Tate Collective membership number
- The title of the artwork your writing responds to
- Your contact email address (if different from the one you’re emailing from)
- Your social media handles (if you’d like us to use them!)
Deadline for email submissions: Monday 20 June at 23.59 GMT.
Important info
Submissions will only be accepted via email.
We will pay a fee of £250 to the writer whose work is featured in Tate Etc.
A panel of Tate Collective Producers, Tate Etc. editorial staff and Tate Modern curator Amrita Dhallu will choose one piece to be published in print.
The piece will feature in the Autumn 2022 edition of Tate Etc. that will be released in early September.
Paintings to respond to
Scroll down to see the selection of paintings you can choose to write your response to.
Lubaina Himid
Stir Until Melted (The Fortune Teller) 2020
Acrylic paint on canvas
183 × 122 × 2 cm
© Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Gavin Renshaw
Lubaina Himid
Slice Ten Lemons 2015/2020
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
Two parts: 152.4 × 152.4 × 2 cm
8 × 10.5 × 3.5 cm
© Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Andy Keate
Lubaina Himid
The Button Maker 2020
Acrylic paint and charcoal on canvas
243.8 × 182.8 × 2 cm
© Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Andy Keate
Lubaina Himid
The Operating Table 2019
Acrylic paint on canvas
152 × 152 × 2 cm
© Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. Photo: Gavin Renshaw
