Tate has announced Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa as the four shortlisted artists for the 2025 Turner Prize. Their work will be exhibited at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, in the North of England, from September 27, 2025, through February 22, 2026. The winner of the £25,000 ($33,334) prize will be revealed at a ceremony in Bradford on December 9th. The three other shortlisted artists will each receive £10,000 ($13,338).
Now in its 41st edition, the Turner Prize is one of the most prestigious international art awards, awarded to an artist born or based in the U.K. for an outstanding exhibition. “Each of the artists offers a unique way of viewing the world through personal experience and expression,” said Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chair of the Turner Prize jury. “On J.M.W. Turner’s 250th birthday, I’m delighted to see his spirit of innovation is still alive and well in contemporary British art today.” This year’s exhibition is a major component of Bradford 2025, part of the city’s year as the U.K. City of Culture, developed in partnership with Tate, Bradford District Museums & Galleries, and Yorkshire Contemporary.
Scottish multimedia artist Nnena Kalu has been recognized for her installations presented at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and Manifesta 15 in Barcelona. She creates brightly colored, bulbous hanging sculptures out of paper and textiles, wrapped in cellophane and tape, along with meditative works on paper. She has also previously exhibited at Studio Voltaire and Arcadia Missa, and has a studio at ActionSpace, a London-based organisation aiding artists with learning disabilities. The jury praised Kalu’s mastery of color and material, and her ability to respond to architectural space with gestural abstraction.
Rene Matić is nominated for their solo exhibition “AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH” at CCA Berlin. Their work features intimate photographs of friends and family, along with sound, banners, and installation to highlight moments of tenderness and community. In 2024, Matić also exhibited in a major touring show on British working class photography, shown at the Hayward Gallery among other institutions, and in a dual exhibition at the Kunsthalle Wien with Oscar Murillo.
Mohammed Sami is nominated for his solo exhibition “After the Storm” at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. Sami’s large-scale paintings depict evocative, depopulated spaces that allude to memory, war, and exile. The works are oblique references to his own experience as a refugee from Baghdad, depicting furniture, empty rooms, and partial depictions of military personnel. The jury commended his sensitive portrayal of trauma and absence.
Korean Canadian artist Zadie Xa, who is based in London, is recognized for her presentation at the 2025 Sharjah Biennial, created in collaboration with Benito Mayor Vallejo. Xa’s immersive installation, combining painting, sound, textile, and sculpture, drew on Korean shamanic traditions and maritime folklore. In this show, the walls were covered in paintings in eye-popping shades, made from textiles sewn together, their fraying seams exposed. Hanging in the centre of the room, sculptural mobiles made from shells emitted galactic electronic music as part of the installation. Xa is represented by Thaddaeus Ropac and had her first solo show with the gallery in Paris last year.
The 2024 Turner Prize winner, Jasleen Kaur, presented an installation of found objects exploring her upbringing in a Sikh community in Glasgow. Previous winners include Wolfgang Tillmans, Anish Kapoor, and Lubaina Himid.
