We Will Be

'We Will Be' is an acrostic poetic text that opens the publication, The Place Is Here (2019, Van Abbemuseum and Sternberg Press), edited by N. Aikens and E. Robles, which was awarded the 2020 Historians of British Art Prize multi-authored book prize. Borrowing a title from Lubaina Himid’s 1985 work, the text is walks with and among, tracing and dwelling witn a momentary configuration of women, artists, and works installed in the exhibition, The Place Is Here, curated by N. Aikens, at Nottingham Contemporary (2018). 'We Will Be' may be considered an ekphrastic poem, that reflects and responds to the following works by Mona Hatoum, Joy Gregory, Zarina Bhimji, Marlene Smith, Sonia Boyce, Maud Sulter and Ingrid Pollard. The works are:

Zarina Bhimji, 1987, She Loved to Breathe – Pure Silence. Plexiglas, latex gloves, spices. Victoria and Albert Museum collection

Sonia Boyce, 1987, From Tarzan to Rambo: English Born ‘Native’ Considers her Relationship to the Constructed/Self Image and her Roots in Reconstruction. Black & white photographs on paper, photocopies on paper, acrylic paint, ballpoint pen, crayon and felt-tip pen. Tate Collection

Joy Gregory, 1989-1990, Autoportraits. Giclee prints on cotton rag paper, 17.8 x 12.7cm

Mona Hatoum, 1988, Measures of Distance. Colour video with sound, 15 mins 35 secs

Lubaina Himid, 1985, We Will Be. Newsprint, marker pen, paper, drawing pins, watercolour, crayon, pencil, yarn, foil and playing cards on plywood. Walker Art Gallery Collection

Ingrid Pollard, 1987, Pastoral Interlude. Hand tinted silver prints. Victoria and Albert Museum collection

Marlene Smith (1987) Art History. Mixed media, 85 x 76 x 45cm

Maud Sulter (1985) Nightmare; In the Ever Presence of the Enemy; and As a Black Woman, from the series, Poetry in Motion. Collages on paper, approx. 50cm x 40cm. Birmingham Museums Collection

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