Scottish Sikh artist Jasleen Kaur wins Turner Prize 2024 for her Alter Altar at Tate London

Jasleen Kaur, a Glasgow-born Scottish Sikh artist of Indian heritage, has won the prestigious Turner Prize 2024 for her exhibition ‘Alter Altar’, which weaves together personal, political, and spiritual themes. She received the GBP 25,000 (approximately Rs 27 lakh) award at a ceremony at Tate Britain in London. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the prize.

The Turner Prize jury highlighted Kaur’s “evocative combination of sound and sculpture to address specifics of family memory and community struggle”.

Kaur explores the Sikh concept of Miri Piri, balancing the political and spiritual, to propose new ways for humanity to live together through her art.

Her exhibition room included a Ford car, symbolising one of her dad’s migrant aspirations.

In her acceptance speech, Kaur stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people, demanded an end to institutional complicity in Israel’s genocide and called for an arms embargo. She is among signatories to a letter demanding Tate, which runs several major British art museums, cut ties with donors who are linked to Israel over its war in Gaza.

“This is not a radical demand,” said Kaur in his prize-winning speech. “This should not risk an artist’s career or safety.”

“We need a proper ceasefire now,” she said.

The Israel-Hamas war has led to the deaths of over 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas health officials. This conflict started after Hamas’s cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 Israelis and took more than 250 hostages.

KAUR’S EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS CULTURAL THEMES

Kaur’s solo exhibition includes sculptures made from gathered and remade objects, animated with immersive sound and music.

The Turner Prize jury chose Kaur for her ability to reflect on everyday objects, using sound and music to evoke community and cultural inheritance.

“The jury noted the considered way in which Kaur weaves together the personal, political and spiritual in her exhibition ‘Alter Altar’, choreographing a visual and aural experience that suggests both solidarity and joy,” the Turner Prize statement said.

They praised her skill in combining materials like Irn-Bru — a Scottish carbonated soft drink, family photographs, and a vintage Ford Escort to highlight resilience and possibility.

Kaur’s display includes family photos, an Axminster carpet, a vintage Ford Escort covered in a giant doily, Irn-Bru, and kinetic hand bells, symbolising her Scottish upbringing.

KAUR EXPLORES SIKH CONCEPT OF MIRI PIRI THROUGH ART

Kaur, in her 30s, initially studied jewellery making before moving into applied art. Her works tell stories through the combination of objects. Her exhibition, alongside those of the other three shortlisted artists who each won GBP 10,000, is on display at Tate Britain Museum until mid-February 2025.

“Her room is made up of installations that are looking at anti-colonialist discussion, anti-imperialist struggles and really assessing those against her lived experience, her family and upbringing. It includes a Ford car, symbolising one of her dad’s migrant aspirations, covered in a crocheted doily which relates to histories of migration and labour,” Linsey Young, co-curator of the exhibition at Tate Britain, said.

Additional items in Kaur’s exhibition include a harmonium on a lush carpet and kinetic worship bells.

A key feature is ‘Yearnings 2023’, a vocal soundscape of Kaur’s voice layered over pop song snippets playing from the speakers of a vintage Ford Escort, representing her musical memory.

The Turner Prize, established in 1984 and named after the painter JMW Turner, is one of the world’s best-known visual arts awards. The 2024 prize marks its 40th anniversary and a return to Tate Britain after six years. Other shortlisted artists this year included Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, and Delaine Le Bas.