Nnena Kalu Wins 2025 Turner Prize

Nnena Kalu b. 1966, United Kingdom Follow +

Nnena Kalu has won the 2025 Turner Prize, presented last night in a ceremony in Bradford, this year’s U.K. City of Culture. The 59-year-old British Nigerian becomes the first artist with a learning disability to win the prize and the jury commended her ‘bold and compelling work’, and the ‘powerful presence’ of her pieces.

Two of Kalu’s works were considered for the prize. Hanging Sculpture 1-10, commissioned by Manifesta in 2024 in a former power station in Barcelona, is a series of vividly coloured structures made by wrapping materials (including old VHS tape and found fabric) into cocoon-like structures. The striking graphite-and-pen piece Drawing 21 was part of a group exhibition showcasing Black and non-binary artists which took place at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool earlier this year.

Kalu, who has limited verbal communication, is known for working while playing very loud disco music. The jury praised her lively translation of expressive gesture into captivating abstract sculpture and drawing, and noted her distinct practice and finesse of scale, composition and colour.

Alex Farquharson, chair of the Turner Prize jury and director of Tate Britain, said that Kalu’s win ‘begins to erase [the] border between the neurotypical and neurodiverse artist. You suddenly become aware that actually it’s been a boundary around our history, and around contemporary art. But that boundary is dissolving’.

The shortlisted artists for the 2025 Turner Prize were Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa. An exhibition of their work is at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, until 22 February 2026. —[O]

Main image: Nnena Kalu. Exhibition view: Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford (27 September 2025–22 February 2026). Photo: © David Levene.