Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa are the four artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2025.
The Turner Prize is one of the world’s best-known prizes for the visual arts. It aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.
The prize is awarded each year to a British artist, and is named in honour of the radical painter JMW Turner. In the year that the UK celebrates the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth, the Turner Prize is heading to Bradford.
The shortlisted artists – Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa – were announced on 23 April 2025, 250 years to the day since the birth of Turner. Their work will feature in the annual Turner Prize exhibition, which takes place at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. The winner will be announced in Bradford on 9 December 2025.
Explore the Turner Prize 2025 exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford from 27 September 2025 to 22 February 2026. Admission is free. To be the first to hear information on how to book your tickets, sign up to our mailing list.
Nominated for her presentation as part of ‘Conversations’ at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and ‘Hanging Scuplture 1 to 10’ at Manifesta 15, Barcelona.
Nnena Kalu 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 her highly attuned responses to architectural space.
Rene Matić
Nominated for their solo exhibition ‘AS OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH’ at CCA Berlin.
Rene 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 jury was 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.
Mohammed Sami
Nominated for his solo exhibition ‘After the Storm’ at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire.
Mohammed Sami is best known for his large-scale paintings which explore memory and loss, layering pattern and colour to create haunting, dreamlike scenes. The jury praised the artist’s powerful representation of war and exile, exhibited against the backdrop of Blenheim Palace. He paints empty landscapes, interiors and items of furniture, devoid of people, as metaphors for absent bodies and their memories.
Zadie Xa
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.
Zadie Xa’s work interweaves painting, mural, textile and sound. She 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 this cohesive work was a sophisticated development of Xa’s reflective and enchanting practice.
Named after JMW Turner and his legacy of artistic experimentation, the annual Turner Prize is one of the best-known visual arts awards in the world.
Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. Past winners include Anish Kapoor, Gillian Wearing, Jeremy Deller and Lubaina Himid.
The prize has promoted public debate about new developments in contemporary British art for more than four decades, offering a vital platform to artists who have achieved a breakthrough in their work.
Every other year, the Turner Prize exhibition takes place in a venue outside London. The 2025 exhibition will be held at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery as a highlight of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, with the winner announced in December.
Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects, National Gallery
Habda Rashid, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Fitzwilliam Museum
Having an internationally renowned event like the Turner Prize here in Bradford is a landmark moment for our city. 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.
Partners
Produced by Bradford 2025. Delivered in partnership with Tate, Bradford District Museums & Galleries and Yorkshire Contemporary.
