The Scottish artist, Jasleen Kaur, has been named as the winner of the 2024 for her solo exhibition Alter Altar.
The display, features a series of installations exploring religious identities, politics and history, makes heavy use of different sounds, embedded into the exhibition by way of bells, Sufi Islamic music, Indian harmonium, and pop music.
One of the most eye catching elements of the exhibition is a red Ford Escort, a reference to her father’s first car in the UK and the Indian population who migrated to this country to work in textile factories.
Happy Valley actor James Norton announced Kaur as the winner, and the recipient of £25,000, in a ceremony held at Tate Britain on Tuesday evening.
The five jury members praised Kaur for “her ability to gather different voices through unexpected and playful combinations of material, from Irn-Bru to family photographs and a vintage Ford Escort, locating moments of resilience and possibility”.
Kaur, who was born in Glasgow but lives and works in London, used her speech to advocate for the people in Palestine.
The 38-year-old said she wanted to “echo the calls of the protesters outside” who had gathered after an open letter urged the Tate to cut ties with “organisations complicit in what the UN and ICJ are finally getting closer to saying is a genocide of the Palestinian people”.
“This is not a radical demand,” Kaur said on stage.
“This should not risk an artist’s career or safety. We’re trying to build consensus that the ties to these organisations are unethical, just as artists did with Sackler,” she said, referencing the family linked to the opioid epidemic.
“I’ve been wondering why artists are required to dream up liberation in the gallery but when that dream meets life we are shut down.
“I want the separation between the expression of politics in the gallery and the practice of politics in life to disappear.
“I want the institution to understand that if you want us inside, you need to listen to us outside.”
Kaur concluded her speech by calling for a ceasefire, adding: “Free Palestine.”
This year the arts prize, named after British painter JMW Turner, which awards £25,000 to its winner, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Established in 1984, the prize is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work.
Previous recipients include sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor (1991), artist Damien Hirst (1995), and filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen (1999).
In 2025, the prize will be presented in Bradford at Cartwright Hall art gallery, marking the 250th anniversary of Turner’s birth.
The exhibition of the four shortlisted artists – Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Delaine Le Bas, and Kaur – is at Tate Britain until February 16 2025.
Additional reporting by PA.
