Last night, The Turner Prize was awarded not to one nominee but all 4 nominees. Oscar Murillo, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock and Tai Shani came together last before the winner was announced and made a plea to the judges to recognise the causes of “commonality, multiplicity and solidarity”. The four winners will also share the prize money of £40,000.
Edward Enninful, the Vogue magazine editor opened the envelope at the event and found a statement about all four artists rather than one name. He said, “At a time of political division in Britain and conflict in much of the world, the artists wanted to use the occasion of the Turner Prize to make a strong statement of community and solidarity and have formed themselves into a collective.”
The ceremony was held in Margate at Dreamland, a few minutes away from the Turner Contemporary, an Art gallery linked directly to the artist the prize is named after. It is on the site of his lodging house when he was alive. Alongside the ceremony, Margate is celebrating this special event by holding an Arts festival from September 2019 until January 2020 called Margate Now. The 4 winner’s work is currently at the Turner Contemporary in an exhibition until January.
Notable previous winners throughout the years
- Gilbert and George 1986
- Rachel Whitebread 1993
- Antony Gormley 1994
- Damien Hirst 1995
- Gillian Wearing 1997
- Chris Ofili 1998
- Steve Mcqueen 1999
- Martin Creed 2001
- Grayson Perry 2003
- Susan Philipz 2010
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, artist and audio investigator- his work recreates the noise inside a notorious Syrian Prison Saydnaya as part of an audio investigation by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture
