The Turner Prize, established in 1984 and named after the radical Romantic painter JMW Turner, has consistently captured the evolving spirit of British contemporary art. Created to celebrate boldness and spark public dialogue, the prize has brought early recognition to artists such as Damien Hirst, Lubaina Himid and Laure Prouvost. Each year, it champions visionaries who challenge perception through an exceptional exhibition or presentation. In 2025, on the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth, the prize returns with a compelling shortlist: Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa – each offering a distinct lens on material, identity, memory and myth.
Bradford steps into the spotlight as the host city, anchoring the Turner Prize exhibition within the broader Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations. The year-long programme, shaped by its people and marked by youthful energy, pays tribute to the district’s industrial heritage, natural beauty, and diverse communities. From January to December, the city pulses with creative activity across its streets, greenspaces, and galleries. Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025, reflects on this pivotal moment: “It’s a powerful opportunity to welcome visitors from across the UK and beyond, and to showcase everything that makes Bradford such a dynamic and culturally rich place.”
The selection speaks to contemporary practice’s breadth, from vibrant sculptural installations to meditative painting. Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain and Chair of the Turner Prize Jury, remarked: “Each of the artists offers a unique way of viewing the world through personal experience and expression. On JMW Turner’s 250th birthday, I’m delighted to see his spirit of innovation is still alive and well in contemporary British art today.”
Nnena Kalu
Kalu is nominated for her presentation as part of Conversations at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and Hanging Sculpture 1 to 10 at Manifesta 15, Barcelona. The artist makes cocoon-like shapes out of paper and textiles, which are then bound, layered and wrapped in brightly coloured cellophane and tape to create expressive hanging sculptural installations. Her work is rooted in a process of repeated gestures, as seen in her abstract, swirling drawings on paper. The jury commended her unique command of material, colour and gesture and highly attuned responses to architectural space.
Rene Matić
The artist is recognised for their solo exhibition AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH at CCA Berlin. Matić captures fleeting moments of joy in daily life and expressions of tenderness within a wider political context. Their work includes highly personal photographs of family and friends in stacked frames, paired with sound, banners and installation. The judges were struck by the artist’s ability to express concerns around belonging and identity, conveying broader experiences of a young generation and their community through an intimate and compelling body of work.
Zadie Xa
Xa is 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. Interweaving painting, mural, textile and sound, Xa’s work focuses on the sea as a spiritual realm to explore traditions and folklore, speaking to a multitude of cultures. Her vibrant installation blended a soundscape with ethereal paintings, bojagi patchwork and an interactive sculpture of over 650 brass wind chimes inspired by Korean shamanic ritual bells. The jury felt that it was a sophisticated development of Xa’s reflective and enchanting practice.
Mohammed Sami
Sami, who is best known for his large-scale paintings which explore memory and loss, has been acknowledged for his solo exhibition After the Storm at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. 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. Devoid of people, his compositions depict empty landscapes, interiors and items of furniture as metaphors for absent bodies and their memories. The judging panel praised the artist’s powerful representation of war and exile, exhibited against the backdrop of Blenheim Palace.
This shortlist, curated by a panel including Andrew Bonacina, Sam Lackey, Priyesh Mistry and Habda Rashid, forms a chorus of distinct but interconnected voices. Each artist distils personal experience into work that invites collective resonance. With the Turner Prize 2025 positioned at the heart of Bradford’s cultural renaissance, audiences can expect a journey through form, memory, identity and myth – guided by artists who shape the present and gesture toward the future.
An exhibition of the shortlisted artist’s work will be held at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery from 27 September 2025 to 22 February 2026 as a major moment in the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations. The winner will be announced on 9 December 2025 at an award ceremony in Bradford.
Image Credits:
1&3. Rene Matić, AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH, Installation view, CCA Berlin, 2024. Photos: Diana Pfammatter/CCA Berlin.
2. Nnena Kalu, Hanging Sculpture 1 to 10, installation view, 2024. Photo courtesy of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana. Photocredit: Ivan Erofeev.
4. Zadie Xa with Benito Mayor Vallejo, Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors Are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything, 2025. Installation view. Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Danko Stjepanovic.
5. Installation view Mohammed Sami, After the Storm,Blenheim Art Foundation, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, 9 July – 6 October,2024. Photographer: Tom Lindboe.
