Turner Prize shortlist gets MIMA's year off to flying start
Four contenders announced
The Turner Prize shortlist has been announced and it’s of more than usual interest to culturally aspirant Middlesbrough whose MIMA art gallery hosts this year’s competition.
An exhibition of work by the four artists will open there in September (the winner to be announced on December 10) running into 2027 when Mima will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
It’s a timely artistic fillip for Middlesbrough, recently longlisted for UK City of Culture 2029 (challenging the ‘city’ part of the competition title, just as County Durham did when entering previously).
This year’s Turner Prize contenders are Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau and Tanora Sasraku – and if the names aren’t familiar to you now, they are likely to become more so as the year progresses.
As well as the money, with the prize worth £25,000 to the winner and £10,000 each to the runners-up, the competition, run by Tate Britain in collaboration with other host galleries, traditionally brings a hike in public profile.
SIMEON BARCLAY is nominated for his debut performance, The Ruin, commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, The Hepworth Wakefield and New Art Exchange, Nottingham.
What it was: An hour-long spoken word performance, featuring live percussion by James Larter and horn by Isaac Shieh, drawing on Barclay’s upbringing in Huddersfield and his experience of living in the industrial North.
The jury liked “its exploration of Britishness, class, race and masculine identity through an evocative, experimental use of language and a psychologically immersive soundscape”.
KIRA FREIJE is nominated for her first major solo exhibition, Unspeak the Chorus, at The Hepworth Wakefield.
What it was: Freije used metal, fabric and found materials to create sculptures exploring universal human emotions. Her theatrical tableaux featured life-sized figures with expressive, stonecast faces in poses at once unsettling and beautiful.
The jury liked “the emotional depth of Freije’s work, its unique sculptural vocabulary and the haunting, expressive way she transformed the space through her arrangement of figures”.
MARGUERITE HUMEAU was nominated for her solo exhibition, Torches, presented at ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, and Helsinki Art Museum (HAM), Finland.
What it was: Humeau, in examining the formation of life, ancient human history and imagined future worlds, made sculptures referencing specific natural species and other worldly forms bathed in a looped cycle of light and sound.
The jury liked “her cinematic exhibition-making and her engagement with ecological and existential themes through inventive forms, speculative scenarios and dynamic shifts in scale”.
TANOA SASRAKU was nominated for her solo exhibition, Morale Patch, at The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.
What it was: The exhibition focused on recent political and military histories of oil through a highly conceptual installation that borrowed from the visual language of the corporate world.
The jury liked “the precision and sophistication of the installation, noting how it addressed complex historical issues with strong contemporary resonances”.
Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chair of the five-strong jury, called it an “outstanding” shortlist.
“The Turner Prize,” he said, “continues to offer the public a compelling reflection of the breadth and vitality of contemporary British art.
“This year’s selection presents a rich and diverse range of work, spanning installation and performance, and with a strong emphasis on sculptural practice.
“Each artist invites us into carefully constructed scenarios, both real and imagined, that offer distinct perspectives through which to explore the world around us, and to reflect on our place within it.”
Dr Laura Sillars, director at MIMA and dean of culture and creativity at Teesside University, said the shortlist promised an “extraordinary” Turner Prize exhibition.
“We all look forward to working with the artists over the coming months in Middlesbrough, a place with a strong and growing cultural confidence,” she went on.
“As the first Turner Prize within a university setting, this moment creates a special context, where contemporary art can inspire discussion, dialogue and new ways of thinking.”
Hosting the Turner Prize was a significant moment for MIMA, Teesside University, Middlesbrough and the wider Tees Valley, she told journalists listening to the morning announcement.
MIMA was “an international contemporary art museum” known “for connecting contemporary art to people and place, combining ambitious exhibitions and innovative research, learning and deep community engagement”.
With the high profile New Contemporaries exhibition opening at MIMA on May 8 (until August 16), paving the way to the Turner Prize, this was a really exciting time, she said.
“Middlesbrough is a powerful and fascinating place to encounter the work of this year’s Turner Prize.
“The questions the artists are exploring - about industry, environment, connection and the nature of belonging - are very much part of Middlesbrough and its DNA.”
Over 20 years, she said, MIMA had established itself as an open and inclusive place that was connected to its communities while also contributing to national and international conversations in contemporary art.
“Middlesbrough has been steadily investing in its cultural infrastructure across galleries, libraries, public spaces and partnerships, building a stronger and more connected cultural life.
“Being longlisted for UK City of Culture reflects that growing confidence and ambition, and throughout the time of the Turner Prize exhibition we will work across the region to bring artists and audiences together to create space for exchange, reflection and debate.”
She thanked backers and funders including Tate, Middlesbrough Council, Arts Council England, Tees Valley Combined Authority, local business and some who wished to remain anonymous.
“People are excited about this project and we can’t wait to see it unfold,” she said.
The Turner Prize exhibition will run at MIMA from September 26 until March 29.