Lubaina Himid

fabric we look at dresses we'd look at furniture we'd look at curtains we look at ceramics and just talk about them even as a kind of really young teenager that's what i was doing with her and if she was going out she would be looking for something to wear she would be sometimes trying to persuade me to wear something you know bright and colorful which i didn't want to do

she certainly didn't discourage it you know she was very aware of you know in the 60s we were at all those big celebrations of East African countries getting their independence so that was an incredibly political moment it was a lot of parties but it was for a political reason

You know, so we would talk about the situation in South Africa.

She knew lots of South African musicians, filmmakers.

So in that kind of creative route to political change, she was very aware of it and surrounded me one way or another with those sort of people.

But she wasn't a particularly political person herself.

Like all parents, you know, she wanted me to have a proper job.

So she didn't encourage me in that fine art direction.

But I was interested in theatre and I was interested in opera.

And so when I sort of leaned towards theatre design, I think she thought, well, that's a proper job.

Yes.

Even if it isn't sort of, you know...

steady and reliable in some ways, it is.

No, not at all.

It was absolutely the direction of travel.

It's just that I wasn't that good at it.

Whoops.

And I wasn't that good at that way that you do need to connect into the industry.

With my mum, yeah, definitely.

I still find it.