Nnena Kalu earns ‘historic’ win

This year, Nnena Kalu won the Turner Prize, the UK’s most recognized art award, with her “bold and impressive” sculptures and drawings, making history as the first artist with a learning disability to win.

The jury praised Kalu’s brightly colored sculptures and drawings of swirling, tornado-like shapes haphazardly wrapped in layers of ribbon, string, card and shiny VHS tape.

Kalu, 59, is an autistic, learning-disabled artist with limited verbal communication.

Charlotte Hollinshead, who has worked with him for 25 years, said on stage at the ceremony: “This is a very important moment for a lot of people. This is a seismic event. It has broken a very stubborn glass ceiling.”

In a moving speech alongside Kalu, he said: “This amazing woman has worked hard for a very long time.

“It’s great that he’s finally getting the recognition he so rightfully deserves.”

Glasgow-born, London-based Kalu was announced as the winner of the award and £25,000 prize money at a ceremony in Bradford, England’s current city of culture, on Tuesday.

He accepted the honor by wearing a badge with his photo on it and the words “Idol, legend, winner, whatever.”

Kalu has become increasingly well-known in the art world in recent years after working as resident artist at Action Space, which has been supporting artists with learning disabilities since 1999.

Ms Hollinshead, studio manager and artistic facilitator, said: “We are delighted that Nnena’s talent and beautiful work is now out in the world for you to see this complex artist creating magnificent, intricate forms, often while listening to disco music as loud as possible.

“Nnena’s career reflects the long, often very frustrating journey we have been on together to challenge people’s preconceptions about differently-abled artists, particularly artists with disabilities, an important creative community that is so undervalued.

“When Nnena first started working with Action Space in 1999, the art world wasn’t interested.

“His work wasn’t respected, wasn’t seen, and certainly wasn’t seen as cool.

“Nnena has faced an incredible amount of discrimination and this continues today, so I hope this award will eliminate that prejudice.

“Nnena Kalu, you have made history!”

Kalu’s work divided opinion among art critics, but the Turner Prize jury was impressed by “the truly compelling sculptures and drawings that could only be done by Nnena”, according to the jury’s chairman, Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson.

He said his drawings, which come in sets of two or three shapes, “have a beautiful complexity” and “look like swirling eddies.”

His sculptures, meanwhile, are suspended shapes covered in repurposed piles of materials such as fabric, rope, duct tape, plastic wrap, and paper.

Mr Farquharson said they looked like three-dimensional versions of abstract expressionist paintings.

“But these aren’t paintings, they’re not flat on the wall. They hang in your space like brightly colored rocks or creatures.

“They’re almost at your eye level. They seem to communicate with each other and with you, even though there are no figurative features.

“The use of materials, including videotapes wrapped around, is highly unusual.

“The colors and lines created by the materials are very similar to brush marks transferred to three dimensions. They are very gestural, very expressive and very interesting.”

Mr Farquharson said the judges deliberated for two or three hours and stressed that the selection of the winner was entirely based on merit.

“The conclusion, first of all, wasn’t about wanting the award to go to Nnena as the first neurodiverse artist. That wasn’t a driving factor,” he said.

“It was an interest and a genuine belief in the quality and uniqueness of his practice that was inseparable from who he was.”

He told BBC News it was a historic moment.

“It breaks down the walls between neurotypical and neurodiverse artists. It really becomes about the strength and quality of the work, regardless of the identity of the artist.

“Perhaps the historic aspect of this is that we have taken another step towards including truly wonderful neurodiverse artists in the artwork we present today.”

The result was announced at a ceremony at Bradford Grammar School, the former school of artist David Hockney.

The works of the four shortlisted artists are currently on display in the Turner Prize exhibition at the nearby Cartwright Hall gallery, which runs until 22 February 2026.

The other candidates were Rene Matić, Zadie Xa and Mohammed Sami, who will receive £10,000 each.

The Turner Prize has been the UK’s most acclaimed and controversial arts award since its establishment in 1984. Past winners include Lubaina Himid, Jeremy Deller, Grayson Perry, Steve McQueen and Damien Hirst.