Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025

Nnena Kalu has been awarded the Turner Prize 2025. The £25,000 award was announced on 9 December at Bradford Grammar School.

This year’s jury praised all four shortlisted artists for their distinct and courageous presentations, each offering a compelling lens onto contemporary artistic practice. The exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery has already drawn 34,000 visitors, reflecting wide public interest in the nominees’ diverse approaches across sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, sound, and installation.

Kalu received the prize for her dynamic hanging sculptures—cocoon-like forms built from layers of wrapped materials—and her large-scale drawings composed of vigorous, rhythmic lines. The jury commended the boldness of her abstract language, highlighting the powerful presence of her works and her refined sense of scale, composition, and colour.

One of the world’s most recognized visual arts awards, the Turner Prize was established in 1984 to foster public debate around new directions in British contemporary art. This year’s shortlist included Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa.

The 2025 jury consisted of Andrew Bonacina, independent curator; Sam Lackey, Director of Liverpool Biennial; Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects at the National Gallery; and Habda Rashid, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Fitzwilliam Museum. The jury was chaired by Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain.

The exhibition featuring the four shortlisted artists remains on view at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, until 22 February 2026. It is co-curated by Jill Iredale (Cartwright Hall Art Gallery), Michael Richmond (Yorkshire Contemporary), and Sophie Bullen (Yorkshire Contemporary) for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.

Turner Prize 2025 is produced by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, in partnership with Tate, Bradford District Museums & Galleries, and Yorkshire Contemporary. It is supported by The John Browne Charitable Trust and The Uggla Family Foundation, and sponsored by Amplitude Event Solutions.

In 2026, the Turner Prize will be hosted by MIMA, Middlesbrough.