Turner Prize to be replaced with £10,000 artists’ grants

THIS year’s Turner Prize has been cancelled in favour of awarding £10,000 bursaries to 10 artists struggling during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Organisers believe JMW Turner himself “would approve” of the decision to cancel the art prize, which bears the English Romantic painter’s name, in only the second year since its inception that the event will not go ahead.

In place of the £25,000 award, Tate Britain has announced that £100,000 will be split between 10 worthy artists. with plans to return to normal in 2021.

A prize shortlist is usually announced in summer, with an exhibition of the often conceptual work opened in autumn, and the winner named at a December ceremony.

But organisers believe time due to Covid-19 would make arranging an exhibition “impossible”.

Instead the prize jury, which has spent 12 months researching contemporary exhibitions across the country, will draw up a list of 10 artists who will receive the planned Turner Bursaries.

Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chairman of the Turner Prize jury, said: “I think JMW Turner, who once planned to leave his fortune to support artists in their hour of need, would approve of our decision.

“The practicalities of organising a prize exhibition are impossible in the current circumstances.”

Jury members plan to host a video conference to decide 10 artists deserving of a £10,000 bursary. It is hoped the list will be announced in June.

The Turner Prize has taken place every year since it was founded in 1984, apart from 1990 when lack of sponsorship meant it could not go ahead.