Turner Prize 2026 Exhibition Opens In Middlesbrough

MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, today unveiled an exhibition of works by the four artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize: Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau, and Tanoa Sasraku.

The winner will be announced on 10 December, 2026.

MIMA, which is part of Teesside University, is an international art gallery and museum in the heart of Middlesbrough. The Turner Prize exhibition is open from 26 September, 2026 to 29 March, 2027.

One of the best-known prizes for the visual arts in the world, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.

Established in 1984, the prize is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work. The Turner Prize winner will be awarded £25,000 with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists.

The presentation of Turner Prize 2026 at MIMA has been supported by Middlesbrough Council, Tees Valley Combined Authority, Henry Moore Foundation, Event & Media Structures Ltd, Cadogan Tate and the Crathorne family.

Simeon Barclay creates environments where objects, architecture, sounds, video and images collide to create a deeply personal and often humorous portrait of British culture.

He is nominated for his performance The Ruin, commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and New Art Exchange, Nottingham.

For his presentation of The Ruin at MIMA, Barclay has made material the energy of the live performance through a spatial intervention, resonating with his own voice. It invites the audience on a journey back in time to when the M62 motorway was being carved through the Pennines; one of the most significant infrastructural projects of postwar Britain.

Kira Freije creates sculptural worlds inhabited by human and animal forms. She is nominated for her solo exhibition Unspeak the Chorus at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, co-commissioned with Modern Art Oxford.

In Freije’s Turner Prize exhibition, groups of figures occupy the gallery space. Their open structures are built from slender welded steel strips, creating volumes or forms that resemble drawings in space, with faces, hands and feet cast in aluminium.

Walls of scattered points of light suggest a night sky, reflected from mirrored walls across the sculptures. A gentle mist gives the light structure and is treated by Freije as another material within the installation.

Marguerite Humeau’s practice brings together sculpture, sound and light, moving between two prehistoric pasts, the present and imagined futures to explore life, death, transformation and survival. She is nominated for her solo exhibition Torches at ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, Ishøj, Denmark, and Helsinki Art Museum (HAM).

In Humeau’s exhibition at MIMA, beings emerge as guides and companions under a celestial sky of translucent glass orbs. A monumental elephant matriarch approaches death and guardians protect precious substances. Across the exhibition, death is not an ending but a moment of renewal, allowing something new to emerge.

Tanoa Sasraku explores materials and their narrative potential through the prism of human power structures. Her artworks make connections between seemingly distinct material processes, found objects and familiar symbols, inviting the viewer to be curious about where they came from, who they belong to and how they were made. She is nominated for her solo exhibition Morale Patch at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.

For her Turner Prize exhibition, Sasraku investigates the dynamics, instruments and aesthetics of power that facilitate “extractivism” – the aggressive, large-scale removal of natural resources for profit. Materials and objects in the exhibition include raw pigment found in the earth in Cornwall and Ghana, used to saturate a paper suit pattern; liquid crude oil contained inside highly processed, petrochemically derived acrylic paperweights; and stacks of bleached stripes on brittle sheets of paper held together with binder clips, each titled with the battles for which they faintly signify.

Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain, said: “Tate Britain frequently works with museums and galleries across the UK to bring the Turner Prize to the widest possible audience, and I am delighted that this year’s presentation is hosted by MIMA in Middlesbrough.

“The Turner Prize has always been a catalyst for conversation and debate, and MIMA’s deep engagement with its local community makes it a wonderful setting for this year’s exhibition. Art has a unique power to bring people together, open new perspectives and spark conversations that extend far beyond the gallery.

“I hope audiences in Middlesbrough and visitors from across the UK will embrace the work of these four exceptional artists, whose presentations reflect the energy and diversity of contemporary British art today.”

Dr Laura Sillars, Director of MIMA and Dean of Culture & Creativity at Teesside University, said: “Artists have a unique capacity to invite us to look again at the world around us and to ask: what if? What if things were understood differently or imagined anew?

“Bringing Turner Prize 2026 to MIMA creates a meeting between four exceptional artistic practices and the histories, experiences and imaginations of Middlesbrough, Teesside and the North East.

“As part of Teesside University, MIMA lives at the meeting point of art, learning and public life. We are deeply grateful to the artists and to everyone whose care, generosity and hard work have brought us to this moment.”

Professor Mark Simpson, Vice-Chancellor of Teesside University, said: “The Turner Prize coming to Middlesbrough is a powerful statement about the role that culture and creativity play in the life of our communities. Teesside University is committed not only to education and research, but also to the social, cultural and economic vitality of our region.

“Through MIMA, we are creating opportunities for people to engage with world-class contemporary art and the important conversations it inspires.

“Art and culture help us understand our communities, challenge assumptions and imagine new possibilities for the future.

“Hosting the Turner Prize places Middlesbrough firmly on the national cultural stage, showcasing the creativity, confidence and ambition that define Teesside today. We are proud to support an event that celebrates artistic excellence while shining a spotlight on our region and its people.”

MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, is an international art gallery and museum, home to The Middlesbrough Collection of over 2,350 artworks.

The members of the Turner Prize 2026 jury are: Sarah Allen, Head of Programme, South London Gallery, Joe Hill, Director & Chief Executive, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Sook-Kyung Lee, Director, The Whitworth and Professor of Curatorial Practices at The University of Manchester and Alona Pardo, Director, Arts Council Collection, UK. The jury is chaired by Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain.

The Turner Prize 2026 exhibition is curated by Dr Claire Louise Staunton, Senior Curator & Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, and Helen Welford, Head of Programmes, at MIMA.

Visitor Information

MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

Centre Square

Middlesbrough

Tees Valley TS1 2AZ

 

Turner Prize 2026

26 September 2026 – 29 March 2027

Opening Times:

Monday: Closed

Tuesday to Saturday: 10.00 – 16.30 (last entry 15.30)

Sunday: 12.00 – 16.00 (last entry 15.00)

Admission free