On the occasion of the project they are presenting at the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière as part of the 2026 Festival d’Automne, artists Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska speak with Clément Dirié, curator of their exhibition titled Attendre ensemble.
The discussion will focus on art and architecture, ways of connecting grand historical narratives with individual destinies, notions of belonging and expectation, as well as their respective practices and their collaboration, which began in the late 2010s—the latest iteration of which is currently on view at the British Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
Marking the return of the Festival d’Automne to the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, the two artists are presenting a monumental, never-before-seen installation on a scale befitting the building. Combining paintings, textiles, prints, and sound, their project gives shape to a space populated by presences, voices, and narratives to be heard, deciphered, and identified with—a “waiting room” where one can wait and listen together.
Born in 1954 in Zanzibar, Lubaina Himid lives in Preston, England. “I consider myself a painter and cultural activist,” she says of her multidisciplinary practice, which established her as a leading figure in the Black British Art Movement in the 1980s. Since the mid-2010s, she has gained international renown for her striking depictions of themes such as race, feminism, and cultural memory. A professor emerita at the University of Lancashire, Lubaina Himid was awarded the Turner Prize in 2017. She will represent England at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Her work was the subject of a major retrospective at the Tate Modern in London in 2021.
Born in 1976 in Ruda Śląska, Poland, Magda Stawarska lives in Preston, England. As a research associate at the Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at the University of Lancashire, her multidisciplinary practice employs sound, moving images, screen printing, and performance to explore memory, history, and the urban soundscape through “inner listening” techniques.
Clément Dirié, a historian, art critic, and publisher, is the curator of their exhibition *Waiting Together*, presented as part of the 2026 Festival d’Automne.
Crédit photo : © ?
