We’re so proud of Jasleen Kaur for her Turner Prize win last week! Huge congratulations!
Jasleen Kaur won the Turner Prize 2024 for her sculptural and sonic works ‘Alter Altar’.
Jasleen’s win coincides with the 40th anniversary of the notorious Turner Prize, and Jasleen’s stunning work celebrates community and cultural inheritance. In her acceptance speech, Jasleen said: “…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 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.”
Back in 2021, Jasleen collaborated with Metal as part of England’s Creative Coast. She created a new artwork ‘The first thing I did was to kiss the ground’, commissioned by Cement Fields. The piece was inspired by the rich and complex history of migration in Gravesend. It launched to coincide with the opening weekend of Estuary 2021 founded by Metal.
‘The first thing I did was to kiss the ground’ was part of the #EnglandsCreativeCoast Waterfronts commissions. The piece was a sculpture accompanied by a sound-piece, sited close together right on the water’s edge of Gravesend. The sculpture was a large-scale semi-abstract form resembling a Sikh head that takes its inspiration from the decorative processional ‘Palki’ floats that feature in Sikh celebrations.
England’s Creative Coast was led by Turner Contemporary and Visit Kent, in partnership with Cement Fields, Art On Sea, De La Warr Pavilion, Metal Southend and Towner Gallery.
Congratulations again Jasleen to other nominees Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson and previous Metal residency artist Delaine le Bas too.
