This summer, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, presents Connecting Thin Black Lines: 1985–2025, a major exhibition curated by Lubaina Himid to mark 40 years since the historic 1985 group show The Thin Black Line. That original exhibition, featuring young Black and Asian women artists, was a quiet revolution — challenging exclusion in the British art world and helping to shape the future of the Black Arts Movement. Though staged in the ICA’s corridors, its impact would echo for decades, launching careers, shifting perspectives, and demanding new conversations around race, gender, and representation in British visual culture.
Now, for the first time since 1985, works by all eleven original artists — Brenda Agard, Sutapa Biswas, Sonia Boyce, Chila Kumari Burman, Jennifer Comrie, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan, Marlene Smith and Maud Sulter — are brought together in one place. The exhibition spans four decades of practice, featuring early works such as Sonia Boyce’s Rice n Peas (1982), Claudette Johnson’s large-scale portraits, and Maud Sulter’s poetic photography, alongside powerful new commissions: neon installations by Burman and a personal sculptural work by Smith. Their work reflects shared themes — memory, identity, resistance — while also highlighting the diversity of their artistic voices. Together, they map a powerful and ongoing legacy of Black women’s creativity in Britain.
Alongside the artworks, Connecting Thin Black Lines includes a rich archival display of original letters, photographs and documents — many never seen before — revealing the care, collaboration and determination behind the 1985 exhibition. This historical context is brought into conversation with new and recent works by artists like Sutapa Biswas, Veronica Ryan, and Jennifer Comrie, whose practices continue to explore belonging, spirituality, race and cultural memory. The ICA will also host an extended public programme of talks, screenings, performances and a companion publication. To further mark the occasion, the original 1985 exhibition guide — long out of print — will be republished, alongside new reflections by the participating artists.
Connecting Thin Black Lines: 1985–2025 runs from 24 June to 7 September 2025 at the ICA, The Mall, London. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 12pm – 9pm. Pay What You Can from 12–1pm. Tickets are released in 1-hour slots. Free for ICA Members. Members+ and Patrons can bring a guest free of charge. For Tickets
Plan Your Visit
Connecting Thin Black Lines: 1985–2025
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London
24 June – 7 September 2025
Tuesday to Sunday, 12pm – 9pm
12–1pm: Pay What You Can
Tickets available in 1-hour slots
Free entry for ICA Members.
Members+ and Patrons go free plus one guest.