Lisson Gallery in London presents 'Zanzibar' (1999–2023), a collaborative installation by artists Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska. The exhibition reunites Himid's abstract diptychs from 1999 with Stawarska's eight-channel soundscape composed in 2023, creating an immersive meditation on loss, migration, and belonging. Himid's geometric canvases depart from her signature figurative style, evoking fragments of Zanzibar, the East African archipelago where she was born, and memories of her migration to London after her father's death. Stawarska's sonic composition weaves archival recordings, Taraab music, opera, and spoken text through the gallery space, guiding viewers through overlapping histories and imagined geographies.
This exhibition matters because it brings together two acclaimed artists whose collaborative practice explores how memory and identity are carried through both visual and auditory forms. Himid, a Turner Prize-winning artist, offers a rare glimpse into her abstract work, expanding understanding of her practice beyond the figurative narratives for which she is best known. The installation also addresses urgent themes of displacement and emotional inheritance, resonating with contemporary global conversations about migration and belonging. By transforming the gallery into a sensory landscape where painting and sound converge, 'Zanzibar' challenges traditional exhibition formats and invites audiences to experience memory as something felt rather than simply seen.