Harold Offeh: Mmm, Gotta Try a Little Harder, It Could Be Sweet

Born in Zanzibar in 1954, Lubaina Himid is a British painter who has dedicated her thirty-year-long career to uncovering marginalised and silenced histories, figures, and cultural moments. Himid is deeply engaged with the problem of the lack of representation of Black and Asian women in the art world, and she has been committed to showing the work of underrepresented contemporaries. Himid lives and works in Preston, UK and is a professor at the University of Central Lancashire. She was awarded the Turner Prize in 2017 and was made a CBE for services to art in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours. She has exhibited extensively in the UK and abroad. David A. Bailey MBE, is a British Afro-Caribbean curator, photographer, writer and cultural facilitator, living and working in London. Among his main concerns are the notions of diaspora and black representation in art. Sepake Angiama is the artistic director of the institute for international visual arts which is home to the Stuart Hall Library in east London, a rich resource for a globalised discourse on the curatorial and artistic practice of artists and curators from Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Diaspora. iniva's primary focus is to centre the voices of African, Caribbean, Asian & Diaspora artists and their communities. Anna Khimasia is an independent educator, curator and cultural worker. Her curatorial focus is contemporary art, performance and alternative practices with a commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture here at Carleton University (2015). Guy Haywood is Curator & Exhibition Manager at Kettles Yard, and is responsible for the development and delivery of exhibitions and artistic projects. He also oversees the management and care of the collection. Since joining Kettle’s Yard he has been involved in organising over 40 major exhibitions, projects and commissions. His interests lie in 21st century contemporary art and culture with a focus on performance and interdisciplinary practices.

• 5 Lubaina HimidPreface7 Harold OffehA Self-Interview with Harold and Offeh9 Projects: 1999–2025Workshops62 Projects: 1999–2025 (continued)137 Anna KhimasiaSmile, Though Your Heart Is Breaking: Harold Offeh’s Early Performance Work141 David A. BaileyThe Sculptural Performative Work of Harold Offeh145 Sepake AngiamaMmmmm… Harold Offeh149 Guy Haywood and Andrew NairneAfterword150 Image Credits151 Chronology154 Author Biographies155 Acknowledgements