Turner Prize 2019: The Year the Finalists Refused to Compete

In December 2019, the four artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize — Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo and Tai Shani — did something no nominees had done before. They wrote to the jury asking to be named joint winners, in a deliberate stand against a divided political moment.

Their statement called for 'commonality, multiplicity and solidarity' at a time of rising borders and nationalism. The jury, moved by the gesture, awarded the prize to all four as a collective.

It was a quietly radical moment for one of art's most competitive awards — a reminder that artists can rewrite the rules of the game they're invited to play.

Image: “Joseph Mallord William Turner - Norham Castle, Sunrise - WGA23182” — J. M. W. Turner, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.