Mickalene Thomas in Conversation with Renée Mussai
Join the artist behind our Hayward Gallery show, and writer and curator Renée Mussai, for a discussion about Thomas’ work and its themes of Black female identity.
Together, they discuss Thomas’ first solo presentation in a UK public art gallery – All About Love – exploring what Mussai has described as, ‘Thomas’ cauldron of aesthetic kinship, where self-regard and self-love reside abundantly’.
Mickalene Thomas is a renowned multidisciplinary artist celebrated for her vibrant, rhinestone-adorned portraits of Black women. Exploring themes of identity, race and gender, her work explores themes of Black female identity and its complexities within Western culture.
A Tony-nominated co-producer, curator, educator, and mentor, Thomas made history in 2023 as the first Black queer femme artist with a Yale University scholarship in her name. Her work is held in prominent collections, including MoMA, the Whitney and the Smithsonian.
Renée Mussai is an independent London-based curator, writer and scholar of visual culture with a special interest in Black feminist practices. Formerly senior curator and head of collection at Autograph, she is currently senior research associate at the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD), University of Johannesburg, associate lecturer at University of the Arts London, and Chair of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.
Renée Mussai
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.