6 May 2021
A conversation with artist Lubaina Himid and Hospitalfield’s Director Lucy Byatt
Thursday 6 May, 6-7pm
Online on Zoom, Register via Eventbrite
In the summer of 2016 Hospitalfield opened an exhibition of newly commissioned works on paper by Lubaina Himid made after a series of visits delving in to Hospitalfield’s collections and library. This was the beginning of a conversation with an artist who has, for many years, understood the power of public collections and the gathering of archives to construct a perspective on history. Her gentle activism has had considerable slow release impact on the way in which her works, and the works of other contemporary artists, are gifted to, or acquired by, public collections in the UK. She has also made works that for a time are situated within existing collections and that act, alchemically, to unlock previously masked stories. Each collection has the potential to tell many unique narratives through the objects it holds. Influencing what is acquired and establishing the justification for why, is therefore critical to the legacy that is left. Conservation practice is right at the heart of this conversation, as it is the condition in which the works are kept that dictates if the works ever emerge from the store to be made available for public display.
Painting Conservation at Hospitalfield
In 2021, Hospitalfield was awarded funds from Museums Galleries Scotland to undertake a Conservation Survey, a complex audit of the condition of the over 250 oil paintings held in the collection at Hospitalfield. Throughout March and April this year, the painting conservators Egan Matthews & Rose have been surveying the collection of paintings.
Their study will guide our work as we move towards making the Trust’s collections publicly accessible through our Future Plan.
Hospitalfield’s Future Plan
A New Model for Our Time:- An £11m capital investment in to Hospitalfield:- caring for and engaging with the Trust’s history whilst also continuing to actively invest in the future of artists and the development of new work. The investment over 5 years will take place in several phases, creating new buildings and restoring the heritage. The design team is led by Caruso St John Architects. Hospitalfield will open Phase One: the Garden and Garden Buildings on 27 May 2021 with a newly commissioned work by artist Mick Peter and a summer programme which will take place all outside.
Image Credit: Lubaina Himid. Installation shot; Dreaming Has a Share in History. Hospitalfield 2016. Photo: Ruth Clarke
Premiere Screening & Discussion: On Painting Conservation
Wednesday 5 May, 6-6.45pm
Online on Zoom, Register via Eventbrite
We will be screening a new film ‘behind the scenes’ of the collections at Hospitalfield which will be followed by a discussion with the conservators Gail Egan & Henry Matthews from Egan, Matthews & Rose with Hospitalfield’s Scott Byrne. Part of a research programme developed as we embark on the journey of conservation; the collection of paintings, the historic interiors where they are hung and the newly planned stores which we believe must be ‘open’. The film features interviews with the conservators and our dedicated volunteer teams so reflecting the workings behind the display. Post premiere the film will be available to watch via Hospitalfield’s youtube channel.
Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid (b. Zanzibar, 1954) lives and works in Preston, UK, and is Professor of Contemporary Art at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the winner of the 2017 Turner Prize.
Lubaina Himid has exhibited extensively in the UK and abroad. In 2021 Himid will present a major monographic exhibition at Tate Modern, London. Significant solo exhibitions include Spotlights, Tate Britain, London (2019); The Grab Test, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands (2019); Lubaina Himid, CAPC Bordeaux, France (2019); Work From Underneath, New Museum, New York (2019); Gifts to Kings, MRAC Languedoc Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées, Sérignan (2018); Our Kisses are Petals, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2018); The Truth Is Never Watertight, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2017); Navigation Charts, Spike Island, Bristol (2017); and Invisible Strategies, Modern Art Oxford (2017). Selected group exhibitions include Frieze Sculpture, London (2020); Risquons-Tout, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels (2020); Slow Painting, Hayward Touring UK travelling exhibition (2020); En Plein Air, The High Line, New York (2019–2020); Sharjah Biennial 14, UAE (2019); Glasgow International (2018); Berlin Biennale (2018); The Place is Here, Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2017); Keywords, Tate Liverpool (2014); and Burning Down the House, Gwangju Biennale (2014). Her work is held in various museum and public collections, including Tate; British Council Collection; Arts Council Collection; UK Government Art Collection; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Museums Liverpool; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. A monograph, titled Lubaina Himid: Workshop Manual, was released in 2019 from Koenig Books.
Image credit: Ball on Shipboard, 2018. Lubaina Himid. acrylic paint on canvas. 183 x 244 cm
Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens, London. © Lubaina Himid. Photo: Andy Keate
