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Agence France-Presse

Lubaina Himid, 63, on Tuesday became the oldest winner of the Turner Prize, Britain’s most prestigious yet controversial visual art award, for her works celebrating black creativity.
Judges praised the Zanzibar-born artist for the “seriousness of themes she addressed”, paying tribute to the “current vitality of Lubaina’s work as well as the current relevance” of it in three decades past.
The winning artist said she felt “like I won it for a lot of people, so that’s why it means a lot.
“For all the black women who never did win it even though they’ve been shortlisted. It feels good for that reason.”
Musician Goldie presented the £25,000 (US$32,000) award at the ceremony in Hull, northern England, to mark its year as UK City of Culture.
The jury made its decision on the back of Himid’s trio of exhibitions in Oxford, Bristol and Nottingham, which showcased her paintings, prints and installations.
Her exhibits on show include wooden figures, a cast of cut-out characters including Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and a porcelain dinner set painted with images of black slaves.
Himid was one of two artists aged over 50 on the four-person shortlist after age limits were lifted.
The other finalists included Hurvin Anderson, Andrea Buettner and Rosalind Nashashibi.
British painter Anderson’s works use still-life, landscape and portraiture to explore themes of community and identity, drawing upon his Jamaican heritage.
Palestinian-English artist Nashashibi works primarily in 16-millimetre film to present domestic life in the Gaza Strip.
German artist Buettner works in woodcuts, prints, sculpture and video. She has transcribed the finger smudges on her smartphone screen into colourful etchings, worked with nuns and used the fabric of labourers’ jackets to explore ideas of shame and vulnerability.
The jury were “impressed by the seriousness of themes” addressed by Himid, said Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, who chaired the jury.
“They feel they have a lot of resonance in the present – the legacy of colonialism, the different forms racism continues to take,” he added. “But, also, the weird and visual exuberance with which she conveys them.”
The prize is awarded to a Britain-based artist for an outstanding exhibition or presentation of work in the preceding 12 months. The other nominees receive £5,000.
Named after J.M.W. Turner, the British Romanticist landscape painter, the prize has often sparked controversy.
Winners have included Damien Hirst in 1995 with pieces including a rotting cow’s head, and Chris Ofili, who incorporated elephant dung into his paintings in 1998.
Tracey Emin’s My Bed, a stained bed surrounded with detritus, drew huge attention when shortlisted in 1999.


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Artist Lubaina Himid becomes oldest winner of Britain’s controversial Turner Prize

Winner of the 2017 Turner Prize Lubaina Himid poses with one of her works at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, Britain, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 25, 2017 shows a detail of artwork by Lubaina Himid entitled 'A Fashionable Marriage', which features images of former British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, and forms part of her submission for the Turner Prize 2017 in the Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull, northern England. Lubaina Himid was announced as the winner of the 2017 Turner Prize on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION

DJ Goldie, centre and Maria Jane Balshaw Director of the Tate applaud artist Lubaina Himid, left, after she was awarded the Turner Prize 2017, the leading international award for contemporary art, at Hull Minster, in Hull, England, Tuesday Dec. 5, 2017. Zanzibar-born artist Himid won the prestigious prize for artworks that tackle the legacy of colonialism and celebrate the people of the African diaspora. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Artist Duncan Campbell wins Britain’s prestigious Turner Prize for an essay film

The artist Duncan Campbell said winning Britain's Turner Prize for It For Others was a "validation" of his work. Photo: Reuters

Duncan Campbell's Sigmar 20082 being shown.Photo: AFP

London's Barbican hosts Turner Prize winners for travelling art project

Jeremy Deller contributes to "Station to Station". Photo: Corbis

This street in Liverpool is officially an important work of art, winner of  the prestigious Turner Prize

Cairns Street in Toxteth, Liverpool. Assemble, a London-based collective of architects, designers and artists aged 30 and under, have been nominated for a Turner Prize for their work improving four streets, including Cairns St, in the Granby Four Streets area. Houses in Toxteth have recently been sold off for £1 by the council.

The Assemble, winners of the Turner Prize celebrate at The Tramway in Glasgow, Scotland, December 7, 2015. The Assemble architectural and design collective that helped renovate a rundown area of Liverpool to try to stem the tide of gentrification won Britain's Turner Prize for contemporary art on Monday. The prize, established in 1984 and run in partnership with the Tate museums, carries a 25,000-pound ($37,660) cash award. In the past, it has gone mostly to visual and conceptual artists such as Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

(FILES) -- A file photo taken on September 30, 2015, shows a visitor looks through "A Showroom for Granby Workshop" by artist collective "Assemble" during a photo call for the 2015 Turner Prize short list nominations announcement at The Tramway art space in Glasgow, Scotland. Architectural collective Assemble has won the 2015 Turner Prize for contemporary visual art, the competition's organisers said on December 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ANDY BUCHANAN RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE, MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION, TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION

(FILES) -- A file photo taken on July 3, 2015, shows builders as they take a break outside one of the houses designed by "Assemble," which have been nominated for the 2015 Turner Prize, in Cairns Street, part of the Granby Four Streets area in Liverpool, north west England.In Liverpool's Granby neighborhood, proud residents and a group of architects have brought back to life the area's four remaining Victorian streets, earning them a nomination for Britain's prestigious Turner Prize for contemporary art. Architectural collective Assemble has won the 2015 Turner Prize for contemporary visual art, the competition's organisers said on December 7, 2015. AFP PHOTO / PAUL ELLIS

Cairns Street in Toxteth, Liverpool, part of the Turner Prize winning redevelopment project by the architectural collective Assemble. Photo: The Guardian