Autistic artist wins Turner Prize for ‘joyous’ sculptures

Nnena Kalu has won the 2025 Turner Prize for her colourful cocoon-like sculptures made of VHS cassette tape and found fabric.

- ANNABEL NUGENT

The 59-year-old artist, who is autistic with limited verbal communication, was the first learning-disabled artist to be nominated for the prestigious award.

She received the nod for the inclusion of Drawing 21 in the group exhibition Conservation at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, as well as her works Hanging Sculpture 1-10.

Kalu’s suspended sculptures are created by winding vibrant recycled materials, such as cloth, paper, and card, around lengths of flexible ducting tape. This creates “a sense of joyous uplift”, wrote The Independent’s art critic Mark Hudson in a review of the Turner Prize shortlisted artists this year.

The artist beat out her fellow nominees, including Mohammed Sami, whose large-scale paintings meditating on war and Iraq had made him the favourite to win.

Magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo, presented the prize to Kalu at a ceremony held in Bradford on Tuesday evening (9 December). She will receive £25,000.

Chaired by the director of Tate Britain Alex Farquharson, the jury commended Kalu’s bold and compelling work, praising her lively translation of expressive gesture into sculpture and drawing. They also noted her finesse of scale, composition and colour.