Lubaina Himid's Predicting History: Testing Translation acts as a guide to navigating life in places outside one's roots, illustrating a journey of learning and an acceptance of what home truly signifies. As the title suggests, nothing in life is easy or perfect: because predicting history is an impossibility, while translation is always an approximation.
Through a series of five monumental, multi-panel paintings – alongside several of her ‘kanga’ paintings, paintings on found objects and a soundscape created in collaboration with Magda Stawarska – the installation questions what it means to inhabit space not built for you; to assert one’s presence in a world where some move freely and can easily blend in, while others become hypervisible and register as ‘out of place’.
Lubaina Himid CBE RA (b. 1954, Zanzibar) is a world-renowned British artist, known for a pioneering practice which addresses themes of race, history, feminism, cultural memory and identity. She frequently employs storytelling and historical research to challenge dominant Eurocentric narratives and highlight the overlooked contributions of Black figures in Western history.
The installation runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026.
Film: Zachary Hyland © British Council
Visual identity: TEMPLO
