A major group exhibition and event programme curated by Lubaina Himid at the ICA.
This summer, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London will present Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985 – 2025, ( 24 June – 7 September ), a major group exhibition and event programme curated by Lubaina Himid, the Turner Prize-winning artist who will represent Great Britain at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Celebrating 40 years since The Thin Black Line, the groundbreaking group show of young Black and Asian women artists curated by Himid at the ICA in 1985, the exhibition will present work by the original artists Brenda Agard, Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Chila Singh Burman, Jennifer Comrie, Himid, Claudette Johnson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan, Marlene Smith and Maud Sulter all together for the first time. Featuring new commissions as well as artworks made over the past four decades, the exhibition will extend beyond the gallery space with a rich programme of film screenings, talks, music and live performances – fulfilling Himid’s original ambition for a multi-disciplinary Black arts festival across the ICA’s exhibition, cinema and live spaces.
Since the original presentation Connecting Thin Black Lines at the ICA seeks to expand contemporary interpretations and conversations around the practices of these eleven artists today. Rather than a restaging or retrospective, this exhibition looks forward as much as it does back, with works made in the past four decades including two new commissions by Burman and Smith. In her signature style, Burman will light up the ICA’s Concourse with new neon works and Smith’s sculpture, inspired by a photograph from her late parents’ family album, takes centre stage in the Lower Gallery.
The exhibition highlights the interconnected and wide-ranging roles that The Thin Black Line artists have been playing in art and exhibition making, and the meaningful paths crossed between these artists over the course of the last 40 years. It also features an archival display of professional and personal documents from the original 1985 show, including photographs and never-before-seen correspondence revealing the quotidian work and care behind this historic exhibition.
For this exhibition, the ICA will republish the original 1985 exhibition guide accompanied by a companion publication featuring new contributions by the participating artists of Connecting Thin Black Lines.
Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985 – 2025: 24 June – 7 September 2025
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
Tickets: £7.50 full price, Pay What You Can, 12 – 1pm every day: BOOK NOW
Exhibition opening times: Tue to Sun: 12pm – 9pm
Further Information: ICA | Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985 – 2025