Naming the Money: Kwesi, 2004/2021 (2021)

Lubaina Himid, along with seven other leading international artists, were asked to create a print to celebrate Tate Modern’s 21st anniversary. A third of the profits from the sale of each print will benefit Tate.

Available individually or as part of a boxset. View individual editions here. View boxset here.

For almost four decades, British artist Lubaina Himid has created artworks that celebrates black creativity. Her drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations analyse cultural history, the reclaiming of identities and the legacy of the slave trade, as well as racism, gender issues and the lack of representation within institutions.

Himid's print for Tate 21 'Naming the Money: Kwesi’ is derived from one of the characters which inhabit Himid’s largest installation to date, 'Naming the Money’ (2004). Consisting of 100 life-sized cut-outs, each figure represents an African slave from the royal courts of eighteenth-century Europe, depictions the artist had previously encountered in European court paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. Countering the typical anonymity of their original pictorial representation, Himid’s installation gives each figure a name and a backstory, and thus a concrete, distinct identity. They are full of life, with their personality, individuality, skills and passions shining through.