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Turner Contemporary in Margate reveals huge numbers visited Turner Prize 2019 exhibition

An exhibition at the Turner Contemporary for renowned Turner Prize 2019 attracted more than 140,000 visitors, the gallery in Margate has today revealed.

That makes it the second most viewed show of nominated artists' work since the award was established in 1984.

The four winners of the Turner Prize 2019. Picture: Stuart Wilson
The four winners of the Turner Prize 2019. Picture: Stuart Wilson

This time around, the prize was handed to all four shortlisted artists as a collective in a shock twist - Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo, and Tai Shani.

They came together to request that the judges consider awarding the accolade to them all in recognition of their 'shared commitment to urgent social and political causes'.

The prize was presented by Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, at a ceremony at Dreamland and the exhibition of their work was visited by 141,550 people.

Specially devised to run alongside the exhibition, more than 500 artists took part in Margate NOW, a town-wide festival of art, events and performances guest curated by actor Russell Tovey and developed in collaboration with partners.

The festival included the installation The Welcome Chorus by sound artist, designer and electronic musician Yuri Suzuki, which has now been extended to run until Sunday, February 23.

The work saw 12 horns installed on the terrace of Turner Contemporary, each singing lyrics generated live by a uniquely trained piece of AI software.

The exhibition programme at Turner Contemporary continues with We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South which will run from Friday, February 7 until Sunday, May 3.

The show is the first of its kind in the UK and reveals a little-known history shaped by the Civil Rights period in the 1950s and 60s.

It will bring together sculptural assemblages, paintings and quilts by more than 20 African American artists from Alabama and surrounding states produced from the mid-20th century to the present, many of which will be coming to Europe for the first time.

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