Lubaina Himid
and Magda Stawarska:
Plaited Time / Deep Water

Overview

The work of path-breaking artist Lubaina Himid CBE RA inhabits the courtyards and galleries of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Al Mureijah Square.

Developed over several years, Himid’s first exhibition in the region has been conceived together with Magda Stawarska, who is internationally renowned for her practice of ‘inner listening’—a collaborative process of listening to cities. The results of their intimate encounters unfold across multiple media, such as in the four new commissions presented within the exhibition.

Plaited Time / Deep Water is imagined in dialogue with Sharjah’s architecture, its soundscapes and the feelings evoked by its proximity to the sea. At the heart of the show is a newly imagined presentation of ‘Zanzibar’ (1999–2023), a series of paintings by Himid situated within a distinct architecture and sonic installation created by Stawarska.

In Zanzibar, life-long journeys of return are reconfigured in a sensorial encounter for visitors, who are invited to listen and linger—to experience memory unfolding. Elsewhere, boats in myriad forms and detail, each encapsulating an individual dream, and other found objects are made animate as sculptural paintings, leading viewers to a personal topography of the sea.

Across the galleries, daily ritual is explored alongside the artists’ continued engagement with language and its potential embodiment. In Plaited Time / Deep Water, the personal archive finds its rejoinder in Sharjah’s changing light through lyric, voice and song.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.