Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize 2024

The five jury members chose 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 work in London, was nominated for an exhibition that was held at the Tramway in her home city last year.

Scottish artist Jasleen Kaur (Image: Turner Prize/PA) Kaur’s exhibition explores cultural inheritance, autobiography, assimilation, and the complexity of British identity. Kaur created sculptures from everyday objects, each animated through an immersive sound composition, giving them an uncanny illusion of life. These objects including family photos, an Axminster carpet, a vintage Ford Escort covered in a giant doily, Irn-Bru and kinetic hand bells were orchestrated to convey the artist’s upbringing in Glasgow’s Sikh community. 

A Silversmithing & Jewellery graduate from Glasgow School of Art (GSA) in 2008, Kaur joins a long list of GSA alumni who have featured in the awards, including six previous winners: Douglas Gordon (1996), Simon Starling (2005), Richard Wright (2009) Martin Boyce (2011), Duncan Campbell (2014) and Charlotte Prodger (2018).

Professor Penny Macbeth, Director of GSA, said: “It is an honour to see GSA School of Design graduate Jasleen Kaur secure this year’s Turner Prize, and we wish her the warmest congratulations on her exceptional success” says

“Jasleen’s work reflecting on her Sikh upbringing in Glasgow celebrates the rich and diver culture which exists in our city, showing not only the ways in which we choose to define ourselves but also how we must both preserve and challenge our own traditions. Like Jasleen, many GSA graduates continue work in the city after graduating, investing their distinctive talents, growing the creative ecosystem that allows artists and designers to work together, cross discipline boundaries and make exciting work.”

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Anna Gordon, Head of Silversmithing and Jewellery at GSA, said: "Jasleen’s sensitive observations of Glasgow’s Sikh community are rich in social commentary. Exploring cultural fusion through images and objects, they embody the cross-cultural identity of the city.

“The objects she made as an undergraduate student in Silversmithing and Jewellery Design spoke to her heritage in a similar way and it has been wonderful seeing how Jasleen’s work has developed since then. Through curiosity, scale and material she is exploring new ways to communicate her narrative and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.”

Martin Newth, Head of the School of Fine Art at GSA, added: “Together with fellow nominees Claudette Johnson and Delaine Le Bas, Jasleen and Pio create work that asks searching questions about what it means to live in the present day.

“Jasleen’s practice in particular offers a striking and deeply personal response to her childhood Glasgow. The energy, depth, and creative intelligence of both Jasleen’s and Pio’s work embody the principles that underpin GSA’s approach.”

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.

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.