Artist Nnena Kalu has been awarded the 2025 Turner Prize, making her the first artist with a learning disability to win the esteemed £25,000 (~$33,250) accolade. This significant achievement was announced today, December 9, by Tate Britain. Her work, characterized by hanging sculptures and life-sized drawings, evokes a rhythm akin to the natural formations of nests and cocoons.

The BBC covered the live broadcast of this year’s award ceremony from Bradford, recognized as the 2025 UK City of Culture. Alongside Kalu, the shortlisted artists included Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa, each receiving £10,000 (~$13,300) as runners-up. Their work will be on display at the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, following the Turner Prize’s tradition of showcasing the award winners’ exhibitions outside the Tate venue, until February 22.

Kalu, born in Glasgow to Nigerian parents in 1966, currently resides in London. She has been an artist-in-residence at ActionSpace, an organization supporting artists with disabilities, for 25 years. Her artistic process involves wrapping and coiling materials like fabric and VHS tape around frameworks to create intricate spirals and coils, reflecting these patterns in her circular motion drawings using various mediums.

Nominations for the Turner Prize were based on her notable works “Drawing 21” (2021), showcased at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and “Hanging Sculpture 1 to 10” (2024), presented during Manifesta 15 in Barcelona.

At the award ceremony, Charlotte Hollinshead, Kalu’s artistic facilitator at ActionSpace, addressed the audience on her behalf. She highlighted the challenges Kalu faced in being accepted within the art community due to her disability. “Hopefully this award smashes that prejudice away,” Hollinshead expressed, emphasizing the significance of Kalu’s groundbreaking win.