'After the Storm'
Iraqi-British artist Mohammed Sami shortlisted for 2025 Turner Prize
NEWSROOM — Iraqi-British painter Mohammed Sami has been named one of four finalists for the 2025 Turner Prize, one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious contemporary art awards.
Sami will compete alongside artists Nnena Kalu, Rene Matić, and Zadie Xa. Their work will be showcased in a group exhibition at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, with the winner set to be announced on Dec. 9, 2025.
Sami’s nomination honors his 2024 solo exhibition After the Storm, held at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The show featured large-scale paintings that examine themes of memory, war, and exile, drawing from his childhood in Baghdad during the Iraq War and his later life as a refugee in Sweden.
Born in Baghdad in 1984, Sami studied at the Institute of Fine Arts before seeking asylum in Sweden in 2007. He later moved to the UK, where he earned a master’s degree in art.
Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded annually to a British artist under 50 who has made an outstanding contribution to contemporary art. Named after English painter J.M.W. Turner, the award carries a £25,000 prize.
