First solo exhibition of the Algerian artist Baya at the Tate Modern, with more than 100 gouache watercolours and ceramic sculptures.
Baya's first solo exhibition in the UK opens at Tate Modern on 10 June 2027, and it's a substantial one: more than 100 gouache watercolours alongside unique ceramic sculptures. The show is held in the George Economou gallery, and it opens with L'âne bleu (1948), on loan from the Kamel Lazaar Foundation collection.
Baya (Mahieddine) was a leading Algerian artist who helped shape an artistic and cultural identity in newly independent Algeria. Her work drew on the creative and natural surroundings of her homeland, as well as its storytelling and musical traditions. She famously pushed back against the labels people tried to pin on her, rejecting 'surrealist' and 'naive' as categories that didn't fit. Instead, she claimed her modernist approach as something entirely her own, calling it 'Baya-ism'.
Those geometric patterns and bold colours were rooted in Algeria, and they left their mark on generations of international artists and thinkers, including Pablo Picasso and André Breton. This exhibition builds on new research to look at the complexity and experimentation at the heart of her career, and it's the first time her work has been shown on its own in the UK. It's supported by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, with additional support from Tate Members.
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It runs from 10 June to 17 October 2027 at Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG. Opening hours are 10.00-18.00 Sunday to Thursday and 10.00-21.00 Fridays and Saturdays, so there's plenty of room to fit it in during the week or on a late evening.
