April 23, 2022
Golden Lion for Britain: Sonia Boyce Makes Venice History
Sonia Boyce became the first Black woman to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale — and promptly won its highest honour, the Golden Lion.
At the 2022 Venice Biennale, Sonia Boyce made history twice over. She became the first Black woman to represent Great Britain in the British Pavilion — and then her installation, 'Feeling Her Way', won the Golden Lion for best national participation, the Biennale's top prize.
The work immersed visitors in video, collage, golden geometric sculpture and Boyce's signature tessellating wallpapers, all built around the improvised voices of five Black female musicians recorded in the studio where the Beatles made 'Abbey Road'.
A key figure of the 1980s British Black Arts Movement, Boyce had spent decades making collaborative, generous work. In Venice, the art world finally gave it the loudest possible applause.
Image: “Venezia - Giardini della Biennale, padiglione italiano - Foto di Paolo Steffan” — Vaghestelledellorsa, Paolo Steffan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.