Activist Collective’s Playful Pub Wins Turner Prize 2021

Discover Array Collective’s winning project, and how past winners played with space to spark conversations

Whether it’s preserved animals, a concrete-filled flat, or an unmade bed, the Turner Prize celebrates contemporary British creations, even as critics throw their arms in the air and ask, ‘but what does it mean?’ This year, the winner has something very specific to say...

On December 1, Tate announced that Array Collective won the Turner Prize 2021. In a press release for the event, they reported that the jury was impressed by the “welcoming, immersive and surprising” installation which engaged with Northern Irish social issues.

Array Collective are the first Northern Irish artists to win since the prize began in 1984. And in our divided times, it’s especially interesting to note that this is also the first time a shortlist consisted only of collectives, rather than individual artists. So, what does this magical bar have to tell us?

A mythological protest

The Druithaib’s Ball is an immersive installation: a traditional pub with a twist. It is based on a shebeen, or 'pub without permission'—where alcohol is sold without a license. Playing on the tensions between protest and joy, Array Collective’s pub is entered via a circle of flag poles lit by “dusk-to-dawn” light, reminiscent of ceremonial sites. Once you enter, cozy yellow lighting, wood-paneled walls, and rainbow-colored objects surround you. Above your head hangs a ceiling adorned with banners and flags that speak to important social tensions.

Array Collective are known for their commentary on “language, gender, and reproductive rights”. The installation's unity of tradition and protest is at once darkly fun, unsettling, and surreal. It was first built in Belfast, where it marked the centenary of Ireland’s partition. Druids, artists, and activists attended “wearing hand-made costumes”.

The "challenging" history of the Turner Prize

Tate describes The Druithaib’s Ball as an act of “generosity”. It gifts us something to think about. And maybe that’s all art needs to do. But the prize has never been far away from controversy. In fact, the act of challenging and questioning is actually built into its name!

The Turner Prize is named after J.M.W. Turner. This eccentric, nineteenth-century artist is now widely appreciated, but in his time many critics mocked his expressive lighting and violent landscapes as ugly and meaningless. If that sounds familiar, it may be because in 1995, Damien Hirst’s Mother and Child Divided provoked similar backlash. This shocking piece showed a cow and calf, cut in half and preserved in formaldehyde. In 1999, Tracey Emin’s infamous My Bed was shortlisted, and later sold for over two million dollars.

Spaces for thinking

J.M.W. Turner was passionate about places. Many of his works are of shimmering bodies of water, terrifying storms, and other magical landscapes. Part of the Romantic movement, he and his contemporaries obsessed over the feelings that nature stirred in human beings. In an apparent protest against the restrictions of indoor spaces, he famously rowed out onto the Thames river in London on the day of the 1841 census. His absence from any household meant he technically didn't exist.

So space and "not space" pop up over and over again in Turner's work, and the prize winners'. Here are a couple more to get you thinking...

2015 Winner: Assemble

Another collective, Assemble are London-based but work all over the UK. They create art and architecture projects in collaboration with local communities, and were the first architecture-related studio to win. Their Granby Four Streets project in Liverpool involved renovating ten houses, a winter garden, and shops to revive the community. You can learn more about their contemporary spaces and unique materialities here.

2013 winner: Laure Prouvost

Prouvost’s Lake District cabin project called Wantee, which she captured on film, was packed with junk and bizarre objects. Her later installation for the Turner show was even larger and more overwhelmed with story. The spaces told a fictionalized narrative about her grandfather, a conceptual artist who may or may not have dug a tunnel underneath his home and disappeared. Learn about Prouvost's process and watch excerpts from the film below.

2007 winner: Mark Wallinger

Finally, in 2007 Mark Wallinger reconstructed the enormous collection of protest banners and signs from an anti-war protest outside Parliament by Brian Haw. The artifacts were meticulously recreated and wrapped around the Duveen Galleries at the Tate Britain in an exhibition called State Britain. For the Turner exhibition in 2007, he showed a short film in which he wandered through a cavernous Berlin gallery, dressed as a bear, which you can learn more about in the interview below.

From overfilled to empty rooms, regeneration to revisiting memories, British artists have repeatedly used surreal spaces to make us reflect and ask questions. And, sometimes, just to revel in the weirdness.

What did you think of the 2021 winner and shortlist? And does an installation have to ‘mean’ something, to be considered art? Share in the comments below.

If you’ve been inspired by the spaces, art-objects, and "junk art" of the Turner Prize, have a look at our Architecture and Spaces courses.

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