Join Lisa Merrill, PhD., Professor of Performance Studies, Rhetoric and Public Advocacy Program, Department of Writing Studies and Rhetoric at Hofstra University, for a virtual conversation, live from London, discussing the Lubaina Himid exhibition, which is on view at the Tate Modern from November 25, 2021 to July 3, 2022. Professor Merrill is a contributor to the exhibition catalogue.

The Lubaina Himid exhibition, including recent work and selections from throughout her career, takes inspiration from Himid’s interest in theater and unfolds in a sequence of scenes designed to place visitors centerstage and backstage. Initially trained in theater design, Himid is known for her innovative approaches to painting and to social engagement. She 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. In 2017, she was awarded the Turner Prize and in 2018 she was bestowed with the honorary title of CBE for her contributions to the arts.

Professor Merrill is a performance and cultural historian, specializing in 19th century performances and social issues on stage and in the streets. She applies her research and publications about performance history and critical race and cultural studies, and spectatorship, to a range of cultural artifacts, artworks, and performances. Currently Professor Merrill’s work on Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid’s “Memorial to Zong” is part of an exhibition at Lancaster Maritime Museum.

Admission is free. Advance registration is required.

Professor Merrill thanks the Hofstra University Museum of Art, the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Center for ‘Race’, Culture, and Social Justice for making this talk possible.