Scots artist Jasleen Kaur used her acceptance speech for the Turner Prize to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and urge Tate Britain to divest from countries with links to Israel.
The artist won the prestigious award for her solo exhibition Alter Altar, which includes an installation of a car with a giant doily on it.
Ahead of the ceremony she was one of more than 1,000 to sign an open letter urging Tate to divest from Outset Contemporary Art Fund, the Zabludowicz Art Trust and Zabludowicz Art Projects, which they say have deep ties to the Israeli government.
The organisation previously cut ties with any artists with links to the Russian government following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and removed the name of the Sackler family from its London galleries amid ongoing legal battles over the family’s role in the US opioid epidemic.
Read More:
-
Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize for work showcasing Scottish Sikh community
-
Activists shut down Edinburgh weapons manufacturer in new Gaza protest
-
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu
The Turner Prize ceremony was picketed by pro-Palestine protestors, and after being announced as the winner by Happy Valley actor James Norton, Ms Kaur expressed her solidarity with them.
In her acceptance speech she said: "From where I am now, I want to echo the calls of the protestors outside.
"A protest made up of artists, culture workers, Tate staff, students who I stand firmly with - they've gathered to make visible the demands of the open letter signed by, when I last checked, 1,310 signatories in just a week calling for you, Tate, to sever ties with organisations complicit in what the UN and the ICJ are finally getting closer to saying is a genocide of the Palestinian people.
"This is not a radical demand, 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.
"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 to 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.
"We needed a ceasefire a very long time ago, we need a proper ceasefire now, an arms embargo now. Free Palestine."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel