Zarina Bhimji is a Ugandan Asian photographer and film maker, who was nominated for the Turner Prize

Turner Prize

The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...

 in 2007.

Life and work

Zarina Bhimji was educated at Leicester Polytechnic (1982 – 1983), Goldsmiths' College (1983 – 1986) and Slade School of Fine Art

Slade School of Fine Art

The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...

, University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 (1987 – 1989).

In 2001 Bhimji won the EAST award at EASTinternational

EASTinternational

EASTinternational is an open submission exhibition that was launched in 1991 and takes place at the Norwich University College of the Arts. Applications from over 1,000 contemporary artists are received each year with approximately 25-30 artists selected to exhibit...

 selected by Mary Kelly

Mary Kelly

Mary Kelly may refer to:*Mary Jane Kelly , widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of Jack the Ripper*Mary Kelly , Scottish writer*Mary Kelly , American artist and writer...

 and Peter Wollen

Peter Wollen

Peter Wollen is a film theorist and writer. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's Signs and Meaning in the Cinema , helped to transform the discipline of film studies by incorporating the methodology of structuralism and...

.

The artist participated in Documenta 11 (June - September 2002) with her 16mm film "Out of Blue".

2003–2007, she travelled widely in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 and Zanzibar

Zanzibar

Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

, studying legal documents and the stories of those who formed British power in those countries, carrying out interviews and taking photographs.

In 2003 Zarina Bhimji received the ICP's (International Center for Photography, New York City) Infinity Award in the Art Photography category. Other recipients for this award category have included David Hockney (1985), Chuck Close (1990), Cindy Sherman (1994), Sigmar Polke (1998), Andreas Gursky 2001), Shirin Neshat (2002) and Thomas Ruff (2006).

In 2007, she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize for photographs of Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

. Their theme is the expulsion of Asians from the country by Idi Amin

Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...

 and the subsequent loss and grief caused. The photos were in exhibitions at Haunch of Venison

Haunch of Venison

Haunch of Venison is a commercial art gallery founded in 2002 in the West End of London. The gallery represents leading contemporary artists with branches in London, Berlin and New York.-History:...

 gallery in London and Zurich. Her Turner Prize display includes a film, Waiting

Waiting (2007 film)

Waiting is an installation film by Ugandan Asian photographer and filmmaker Zarina Bhimji. The film was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2007. It was filmed in sisal factories in Kenya and deals with themes of violence and endings....

, which was shot in a sisal

Sisal

Sisal is an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. The term may refer either to the plant or the fibre, depending on context...

-processing factory. This is on high-definition video, transferred from the original 35mm film.

The Tate

Tate

-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...

gallery describes her work:
She lives and works in London.

External links

• Official web site