Zarina Bhimji Explained

Zarina Bhimji (born 1963[1]) is a Ugandan Indian photographer, based in London. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2007,[2] exhibited at Documenta 11 in 2002,[3] and is represented in the public collections of Tate, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

Life and work

Born in Mbarara, Uganda, Bhimji was educated at Leicester Polytechnic (1982–1983), Goldsmiths' College (1983–1986) and Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (1987–1989).[4] Her work appeared in Creative Camera in April 1990,[5] and in a landmark issue of Ten.8 magazine as early as 1992.[6]

In 2001, Bhimji had her first solo exhibition in the U.S., Cleaning the Garden, at Talwar Gallery, New York[7] and won the EAST award at EASTinternational selected by Mary Kelly and Peter Wollen.

She participated in documenta 11 in June to September 2002 with her 16 mm film.[8]

From 2003 to 2007, she travelled widely in India, East Africa and Zanzibar, studying legal documents and the stories of those who formed British power in those countries, carrying out interviews and taking photographs.[9]

In 2003 Bhimji received the International Center for Photography's, Infinity Award in the Art Photography category.[10] In 2007, she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize for photographs of Uganda. Their theme was the expulsion of Asians from the country by Idi Amin and the subsequent loss and grief caused.[11] The photographs were exhibited at Haunch of Venison gallery in London and Zurich. Her Turner Prize display included a film, Waiting, which was shot in a sisal-processing factory.

The Tate gallery describes her work:In 2012, the first major survey exhibition of her work was held at Whitechapel Gallery, London, January–March 2012, which traced 25 years of her work. It opened with the joint premiere of her film, Yellow Patch (2011), at The New Art Gallery Walsall[12] and the Whitechapel Gallery. The film was inspired by trade and migration across the Indian Ocean. An accompanying monograph was published by Ridinghouse.[13]

Consisting of over 100 unframed photographs and multiple embroideries, Lead White is a meditation on power and beauty. It is the culmination of a decade-long investigation conducted over multiple continents, delving into national archives to capture details of words, lines, stamps and embossing. Bhimji creates poetic narratives by editing and repeating these details, as if constructing a musical composition, to explore what archives do, how they categorise and how they reveal institutional ideologies. The work also combines digital and physical crafts – including the use of embroidery for the first time in Bhimji's practice – drawing attention to textures and traces, light and shadow. Her latest work, Lead White has been commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation.[14] Lead White was exhibited at Tate Britain in 2018/19.[15]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Collections

Bhimji's work is held in the following public collections:

Notes and References

  1. Book: Great women artists . 2019 . Phaidon Press . 9780714878775 . 62 . Rebecca . Morrill . Karen . Wright . Louisa . Elderton.
  2. News: Turner Prize 2007 shortlist announced – Press Release Tate. Tate. Tate. 2018-10-29. en-GB.
  3. Web site: Zarina Bhimji . zarinabhimji.com . 2018-10-29.
  4. Web site: Education . https://web.archive.org/web/20070514015055/http://www.zarinabhimji.com/biography_education.htm . May 14, 2007 . 2023-10-05.
  5. Web site: Zarina Bhimji. www.zarinabhimji.com. 2019-09-02.
  6. 'Critical Decade: Black British Photography in the 80s', Ten.8 vol. 2, no. 3, 1992
  7. Web site: Zarina Garden-Press Release . talwargallery.com . 2018-11-16.
  8. Documenta 11 . Frieze. 9 September 2002 . 69 . en . 2019-03-13 . Mercer . Kobena.
  9. Web site: Turner Prize: The shortlisted artists . https://web.archive.org/web/20071121003757/http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/turnerprize2007/artists.shtm#zarina . November 21, 2007 . tate.org.uk.
  10. Web site: 2003 Infinity Award: Art. 2016-02-23. International Center of Photography. en. 2019-03-13.
  11. Reynolds, Nigel, "Iraq protest camp shortlisted for Turner Prize" The Daily Telegraph online, 10 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  12. http://www.artrabbit.com/all/events/event/31042/zarina_bhimji_yellow_patch "Zarina Bhimji: Yellow Patch, 20 Jan 2012 – 13 Apr 2012, The New Art Gallery Walsall"
  13. Web site: Zarina Bhimji Ridinghouse publication. Ridinghouse. 5 August 2012.
  14. News: NEW DISPLAYS THIS AUTUMN AT TATE BRITAIN – Press Release Tate. Tate. Tate. 2018-10-29. en-GB.
  15. Web site: Zarina Bhimji: Lead White: Until 2 June 2019 – Display at Tate Britain. Tate. Tate. en-GB. 2019-05-29.
  16. Book: Recordings, a select bibliography of contemporary African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian British art . Melanie . Keen . Elizabeth . Ward . 1996 . Institute of International Visual Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design . 9781899846061 . London . 36076932.
  17. Book: Bhimji, Zarina . Zarina Bhimji . Whitechapel Art Gallery . 9781905464517 . London . 779254824 . 2012.
  18. Web site: Zarina Bhimji born 1963 . Tate . tate.org.uk . 2023-10-05.
  19. News: Zarina Bhimji: Out of Blue – Moderna Museet i Malmö . https://web.archive.org/web/20190413185635/https://www.modernamuseet.se/malmo/en/exhibitions/moderna-museet-cinema/zarina-bhimji-out-of-blue/ . 2019-04-13 . Moderna Museet i Malmö . modernamuseet.se . 2023-10-05 . en-US.

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