Zarina Bhimji (born 1963) is a Ugandan Indian photographer, based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was nominated for the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

in 2007, exhibited at Documenta 11 in 2002, and is represented in the public collections of

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...

in Stockholm.

Life and work

Born in

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, Bhimji was educated at Leicester Polytechnic (1982–1983),

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

(1983–1986) and

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(1987–1989). Her work appeared in ''

Creative Camera ''Creative Camera'' (also known as "CC") was a British monthly/bi-monthly magazine devoted to fine art photography and documentary photography. The successor to the very different (hobbyist) magazine '' Camera Owner'' (which had started in 1964), ...

'' in April 1990, and in a landmark issue of '' Ten.8'' magazine as early as 1992. In 2001, Bhimji had her first solo exhibition in the U.S., ''Cleaning the Garden'', at Talwar Gallery, New York and won the EAST award at

EASTinternational EAST''international'' is an open submission exhibition that was launched in 1991 and curated by Lynda Morris at Norwich Gallery at Norwich University of the Arts. Applications from over 1,000 contemporary artists are received each year with appro ...

selected by Mary Kelly and

Peter Wollen Peter Wollen (29 June 1938 – 17 December 2019) was a film theorist and filmmaker. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's ''Signs and Meaning in the Cinema'' (1969) helped to transfo ...

. She participated in documenta 11 in June to September 2002 with her 16 mm film. From 2003 to 2007, she travelled widely in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, East Africa and

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

, studying legal documents and the stories of those who formed British power in those countries, carrying out interviews and taking photographs."Turner Prize: The shortlisted artists"
, Tate online. Retrieved 29 November 2007. In 2003 Bhimji received the International Center for Photography's, Infinity Award in the Art Photography category. Zarina_Bhimji_monograph

In 2007, she was shortlisted for the

for photographs of

. Their theme was the expulsion of Asians from the country by

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

and the subsequent loss and grief caused.Reynolds, Nigel
"Iraq protest camp shortlisted for Turner Prize"
''The Daily Telegraph'' online, 10 May 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007. The photographs were exhibited at Haunch of Venison gallery in London and Zurich. Her Turner Prize display included a film, ''

Waiting Waiting, Waitin, Waitin', or The Waiting may refer to: Film * ''Waiting'' (1991 film), a film by Jackie McKimmie * ''Waiting...'' (film), a 2005 film starring Ryan Reynolds * ''Waiting'' (2007 film), a film by Zarina Bhimji * ''Waiting'' (20 ...

'', which was shot in a

sisal Sisal (, ) (''Agave sisalana'') is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The term sisal may ...

-processing factory. The

gallery describes her work:In 2012, the first major survey exhibition of her work was held at

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

, 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 The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery an ...

and the Whitechapel Gallery. The film was inspired by trade and migration across the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. An accompanying monograph was published by

Ridinghouse Ridinghouse is a British book publisher specialising in art. Ridinghouse’s publications are distributed by Cornerhouse in the UK and Europe, and by RAM Publications + Distribution, Inc. in North America. Company history Ridinghouse was foun ...

. 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 The Sharjah Art Foundation ( ar, مؤسسة الشارقة للفنون) is a contemporary art and cultural foundation based in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, founded in 2009 by Hoor Al Qasimi, daughter of Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, a me ...

. ''Lead White'' was exhibited at Tate Britain in 2018/19.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 1992: ''Zarina Bhimji: I Will Always Be Here'', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham * 1995: ''Zarina Bhimji'', Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (introduction by Marina Warner) * 1998: ''Cleaning the Garden,'' Harewood House, Terrace Gallery, Leeds * 2006: ''Zarina Bhimji,'' Haunch of Venison, London * 2007: ''Zarina Bhimji,'' Haunch of Venison, Zurich * 2009: ''Zarina Bhimji, Out of Blue,'' Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA * 2010: ''Who Knows Tomorrow,'' Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany * 2012: Zarina Bhimji, Whitechapel Gallery, London and Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland * 2018: ''Lead White,'' Tate Britain

Group exhibitions

* 1985: ''f.stops'', Chelsea School of Art, London * 1985: ''Mirror Reflecting Darkly'', Brixton Art Gallery, London * 1986: ''Darshan: An Exhibition by Ten Asian Photographers,'' Camerawork, London * 1986: ''From Two Worlds'', Whitechapel Art Gallery, London * 1986: ''Jagrati'', Greenwich Citizens Gallery, London * 1987: ''The Image Employed: the Use of Narrative in Black Art'', Cornerhouse, Manchester * 1987: ''Polareyes'', Camden Arts Centre, London * 1987: ''The Devils Feast'', Chelsea School of Art, London * 1987: ''Dislocations'', Kettle's Yard, Cambridge * 1988: ''Spectrums Women's Photography Festival Open Exhibition'', South London Gallery * 1988: ''The Essential Black Art,'' Chisenhale Gallery, London and UK tour * 1989: ''Fabled Territories'', City Art Gallery, Leeds (toured) * 1989: Intimate Distance, the Photographers' Gallery, London * 1990: ''In Focus'', Horizon Gallery, London * 1990: ''Passing Glances: Works by 5 Artists Presented by Artangel in Collaboration with the British Library'', British Library, Euston Road, London * 1990: ''The Women in My Life'', the Small Mansions Arts Centre, London * 1991: ''Shocks to the System: Social and Political Issues in Recent British Art from the Arts Council Collection'', South Bank Centre, London (toured) * 1993: ''On Taking a Normal Situation'', Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerpen * 1994: Iniva inauguration exhibition, Iniva London * 1995: ''The Impossible Science of Being'', the Photographers' Gallery, London * 1996: ''In/Sight'', Guggenheim Museum, New York * 1997: ''No place (like home),'' Walker Arts Centre, Minneapolis * 2002: ''Documenta 11,'' Kassel * 2003: Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul * 2005: ''British Art Show 6,'' Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead and UK tour

Collections

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

* Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago *

in Stockholm

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhimji, Zarina 1963 births Living people Ugandan people of Indian descent British Ismailis Alumni of De Montfort University Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Ugandan women artists English women photographers Journalists from London Ugandan emigrants to the United Kingdom People from Mbarara Gujarati people Khoja Ismailism