Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture today unveiled an exhibition of works by the four artists who have been shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford: Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa.
The world’s leading prize for the visual arts, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary art. The winner will be announced on 9 December 2025 at an award ceremony at Bradford Grammar School.
Turner Prize 2025 is a major moment in the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations. The exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is free to visit and is open from 27 September 2025 – 22 February 2026.
(Bottom left to right) Installation view of Nnena Kalu’s presentation at the Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Photo © David Levene; Feelings Wheel (2022-25), Rene Matić. Installation view at Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. Courtesy of the artist, Arcadia Missa, London and Chapter NY, New York. Photo © David Levene
Nnena Kalu creates large-scale abstract drawings and hanging sculptures. Her vividly coloured works are carefully created from repeated lines and wrappings of different materials, making nest or cocoon-like forms. While drawings are made in her studio, sculptures are often finalised on site, with Kalu adapting them to specific spaces.
Kalu was nominated for the inclusion of Drawing 21 in the group exhibition Conversations at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and her works Hanging Sculpture 1-10. Barcelona at Manifesta 15. Kalu’s Turner Prize presentation brings together these sculptures which the artist has reworked on site at Cartwright Hall. To create these works, Kalu begins with a loop or structure that forms a base, around which she wraps, folds and knots brightly coloured streams of repurposed fabric, rope, tape, cling film, paper and VHS tape. Alongside are a selection of drawings consisting of powerful vortexes made with swirling, overlapping lines.
Rene Matić uses photography along with sculpture, textiles, sound, moving image and writing to reflect on identity, community and love.Their work often captures scenes and snippets from everyday life, subcultures and their own personal background to ask questions about race, gender, class and nationality.
Matić was nominated for their solo exhibition As Opposed to the Truth at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Berlin. Created amid a backdrop of right-wing populism, violence and political hypocrisy, Matić’s Turner Prize presentation explores how despite this, people can ‘hold on to one another, care for each other, and learn to live with vulnerability,’ as they explain. In the centre of the room hangs a white flagcontaining the words ‘no place’ and ‘for violence’. The exhibition also features Restoration, a growing collection of antique black dolls salvaged by the artist, as well as the photo series Feelings Wheel and sound installation 365 which bring together overlapping imagery and sounds referencing protest, parties and relationships.
Mohammed Sami’s practice underscores how mnemonic processes often surface belatedly. In his paintings, the relationship between signifier and signified becomes an active agent. By deliberately omitting human figures and focusing instead on landscapes, interiors, and still-lifes, he displaces direct representation of war and conflict, challenging the cliché of memory as if it were replaying like a videotape. Through this strategy, metaphor and ambiguity allow his paintings to articulate conflict without ever depicting it directly.
For his Turner Prize presentation, Sami brings together new paintings that explore the symptoms of war through processes of memory and causality, alongside works from his nominated solo exhibition at Blenheim Palace After the Storm. The setting of that exhibition was significant: built in the eighteenth century in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, to commemorate the military triumphs of the Duke of Marlborough, the palace is adorned with art that glorifies warfare and power, a charged backdrop against which Sami’s work stages absence and muteness.
Zadie Xa creates installations that imagine alternative worlds. These immersive environments are conjured from a wide range of sources and research interests, including spirituality, ancestry, and cultural traditions, particularly from her own Korean and Canadian background.
Xa was nominated for her solo presentation Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors Are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything in Sharjah Biennial 16, United Arab Emirates. Her presentation at Carwright Hall Art Gallery uses painting, sound, textiles and sculpture to consider links between ocean life, generational grief, Korean shamanism and ghostly spirits. In the centre of the gallery hundreds of shamanic bells hang forming the outline of a shell. Around the edges of the room four more seashells project a soundscape inspired by nature, confessions and the music of Salpuri, a traditional Korean exorcism dance. The exhibition also includes painted walls depicting a sun and moon in perpetual rise and fall, alongside paintings which echo the Korean practice of bojagi, where scraps of cloth are stitched together to make textiles for wrapping objects, or used in domestic rituals. Scenes of marine life and folk practices appear within these colourful patchworks. Xa’s practice often involves collaboration and she worked closely with artist and longtime collaborator Benito Mayor Vallejo to develop the exhibition design, as well as the mural and sculptural elements of this display.
Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain and Chair of the Turner Prize 2025 jury, said:
“I am delighted that the Turner Prize is held in Bradford this year, the first time it has been hosted in West Yorkshire. A beacon of the most exciting contemporary art being made at this moment, the Turner Prize continues to delight, inspire and provoke debate as it enters its fifth decade. A warm congratulations to the four shortlisted artists for their fantastic presentations, which will be enjoyed by Bradford residents and those across the UK.”
Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, said:
“The Turner Prize represents the boldest and most exciting contemporary art, and we are thrilled to welcome it to Bradford during this transformational year. Showcasing world-class creativity in the heart of our city whilst celebrating the most extraordinary artistic voices, the show at the incredible Cartwright Hall Art Gallery will inspire conversation, connection and space for reflection. We’re delighted to be working in partnership with Tate, Bradford Museums & Galleries and Yorkshire Contemporary to bring this prestigious event to the district.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive Officer, Arts Council England, said:
“The international arts world will once again be turning its attention towards West Yorkshire with the Turner Prize among the many highlights of Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture. The brilliant Bradford 2025 programme continues to inspire so many people to get creative, so it’s fitting that Cartwright Hall, a place that once inspired a young David Hockney, is hosting The Turner Prize exhibition. I’m looking forward to seeing how amazing works from Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa will inspire a new generation of visual artists.”
The Turner Prize was established in 1984 and is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. The Turner Prize winner will be awarded £25,000 with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists.
Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary, said:
“As the UK City of Culture, Bradford is having an incredible year, and this striking new exhibition is a great example of getting world-leading contemporary art out of London and into the heart of West Yorkshire. I would encourage everyone to make the most of having this wonderful exhibition in the district.”
Turner Prize 2025 is part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, a year-long celebration of Bradford city and district – the fourth UK City of Culture following Derry/Londonderry, Hull and Coventry. Running from January to December, Bradford 2025 features performances, exhibitions, events and activities inspired by the district’s history and heritage, its breath-taking countryside and industrial past, as well as the local artists, creative organisations and the diverse communities who call Bradford home.
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is one of four Bradford District Museums and Galleries venues run by Bradford Council. Found in Lister Park one mile from Bradford city centre, it is home to Bradford district’s own world-class art collection.
The members of the Turner Prize 2025 jury are: Andrew Bonacina, Independent Curator; Sam Lackey, Director, Liverpool Biennial; Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects, The National Gallery and Habda Rashid, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Fitzwilliam Museum. The jury is chaired by Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain.
Turner Prize 2025 is co- curated by Jill Iredale, Curator, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Michael Richmond, Curator, Yorkshire Contemporary, and Sophie Bullen, Assistant Curator, Yorkshire Contemporary, for Bradford 2025.
Turner Prize 2025 is produced by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Delivered in partnership with Tate, Bradford District Museums & Galleries and Yorkshire Contemporary.
Turner Prize 2025 is supported by The John Browne Charitable Trust and The Uggla Family Foundation.
Turner Prize 2025 is sponsored by Amplitude Event Solutions.
Listings information
Turner Prize 2025
27 September 2025 to 22 February 2026
Cartwright Hall, Lister Park, Bradford, BD9 4NS
Open Tuesday to Friday 10.00 – 16.00 and Saturday to Sunday 10.00 – 18.00
Admission free
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About Cartwright Hall
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is one of four Bradford District Museums and Galleries venues run by Bradford Council. It can be found in the stunning Green Flag awarded Lister Park and is only a mile from Bradford city centre. Inside you’ll find incredible paintings, drawings and sculpture from the district’s own world-class art collections, including pieces by L.S. Lowry, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Anish Kapoor. The Hockney Gallery, dedicated to Bradford born artist David Hockney gives a playful introduction to his life and art with a particular focus on Yorkshire and Bradford, and taking you right through to his colourful iPad experiments. Alongside its permanent displays the venue offers an exciting programme of exhibitions and activities and workshops. bradfordmuseums.org
About Bradford 2025
Bradford became the fourth UK City of Culture in January 2025. The district was selected by the UK Government in May 2022 from a record-breaking 20 bids, following Derry~Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017) and Coventry (2021) to take on one of the most prestigious and transformative titles in UK culture.
Bradford 2025 takes place throughout Bradford District, which covers 141 square miles across West Yorkshire. It features performances, exhibitions, events and activities inspired by the extraordinary variety of this landscape, from the city’s historic centre to the breathtaking countryside that surrounds it. It pays homage to Bradford’s potent heritage as everything from a former industrial powerhouse to the world’s first UNESCO City of Film. Most of all, it celebrates the people of Bradford, from local artists and creative organisations to the diverse communities who call Bradford home.
Bradford 2025 is set to spotlight Bradford’s dynamic contemporary arts and culture, from dance and theatre to film, music and even food. At the same time, it will cement Bradford’s reputation as one of the most welcoming places in the UK for artists, producers and creative entrepreneurs, with international exchanges, development programmes and new cultural investment benefiting the entire district.
The impact of UK City of Culture will continue long after the end of 2025. The district’s designation has already brought significant investment to the region, and Bradford 2025 is set to serve as a catalyst for development, regeneration and change – reshaping Bradford for the benefit of future generations.
About Yorkshire Contemporary
Yorkshire Contemporary is an arts organisation based in Leeds. We work across the region creating exciting opportunities for people to experience ambitious and inspiring contemporary art for free, through exhibitions, commissions and public programmes. We care about the development of artists in the region, providing skills support for early career practitioners and building national and international networks. We champion art and play, encouraging creative curiosity for every community we work with. Between 2013 and 2023 we were known as The Tetley, where we supported over 1200 artists including co-commissioning Tai Shani’s Turner Prize winning exhibition Semiramis.
