The Turner Prize, established in 1984 and named after the radical Romantic painter JMW Turner, has long reflected the shifting currents of British contemporary art. Each year, the award spotlights those pushing the boundaries of creativity, urging audiences to reconsider both the art world and our modern society. Previous editions have brought early recognition to the likes of Damien Hirst, Lubaina Himid and Laure Prouvost. Now, NNena Kalu joins that illustrious list. The artist was named as the 2025 winner in an awards ceremony in Bradford last night. It makes Kalu the first artist with a learning disability to receive the renowned accolade. The jury commended Kalu’s “bold and compelling work”, praising her “lively translation of expressive gesture into captivating abstract sculpture and drawing.”
Kalu creates intricate hanging sculptures from wrappings of different materials. Often made onsite in the exhibition space, they hang down from the wall or ceiling. It begins with a loop, tube or armature that forms a base from which the artist begins to wrap, fold and knot colourful streams of repurposed fabric, rope, parcel tape, cling film, paper and reels of VHS tape. These brightly coloured lengths and strips form a bundle, sometimes resembling a nest or cocoon. Meanwhile, her drawings feature repeated gestural marks, layered to create abstract forms often in the shape of vortexes or spirals. Kalu creates these whilst standing and each drawing is made with marks and movements replicated in a series, usually in pairs or small groups, using pens, pencils, ink, graphite and pastels. Together, the dense, rhythmic whirlpool-like forms of line and colour echo the contours of her sculptures.
The Glasgow-born artist was nominated for her installation Hanging Sculpture 1-10. Barcelona, presented as part of Manifesta 15, Barcelona and for her presentation in Conversations, a group exhibition at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. For Manifesta 15, Kalu was commissioned to create a body of work under the curatorial theme “Imagining Futures” at The Three Chimneys, a disused power station. Her installation consisted of 10 large brightly coloured sculptures that hung amongst the grey concrete pillars of the industrial site. In Conversations Kalu presented Drawing 21 (2021), a work in pen, graphite and chalk pen on paper.
Alongside the winner, the shortlisted artists included Rene Matić, whose highly personal photographs of family and friends, paired with sound, banners and installation, captured fleeting moments of joy in daily life. Zadia Xa was nominated for her presentation Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors Are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything with Benito Mayor Vallejo at Sharjah Biennial 16. Her whose vibrant, multidisciplinary practice blends sound, textiles, painting and sculpture to explore cultural traditions and the sea as a spiritual realm. Also shortlisted was Mohammad Sami, who is best known for his large-scale paintings which explore memory and loss. The artist layers pattern and colour to create haunting, dreamlike scenes, drawing on his life in Baghdad during the Iraq War and as a refugee in Sweden. His compositions depict empty landscapes as metaphors for absent bodies and their memories.
The award was presented at Bradford Grammar School, with the district playing host to this year’s exhibition as part of their 2025 City of Culture activity. The show opened at Cartwright Hall in September and has already welcomed 34,000 visitors. It’s a testament to the Turner Prize’s commitment to widening access to contemporary art by bringing it to leading local arts venues. Kalu’s achievement, alongside an incredibly strong shortlist, highlights why the Turner Prize is one of the most revered art prizes in the world. Her work speaks to the power of creativity to connect people and places, and reaffirms the award’s role in celebrating artists who challenge, inspire and reshape our shared cultural landscape.
Turner Prize 2025 is at Cartwright Hall, Bradford until 22 February 2026: bradford2025.co.uk
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Drawing 72, 2022, Nnena Kalu. Installation view at Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Courtesy of the artist, ActionSpace, London and Arcadia Missa, London. Photo © David Levene.
2. Installation view of Nnena Kalu’s presentation at the Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Photo © David Levene.
3. Installation view of Zadie Xa’s presentation at Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Photo © David Levene.
4. Drawing 29, 2022, Nnena Kalu. Installation view at Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Courtesy of the artist, ActionSpace, London and Arcadia Missa, London. Photo © David Levene.
5. Installation view of Zadie Xa’s presentation at Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Photo © David Levene.
