What stands out most about the entries shortlisted this year is how politically charged they are. Artists selected for the Prize, which will be announced on 5th December include: Croydon-born Rosalind Nashashibi; Hurvin Anderson from Birmingham; Zanzibar-born Lubaina Himid and Andrea Büttner, who was born in Stuttgart, western Germany.
With Palestinian roots, Nashashibi's work explores human spaces, with some of her work delving into those inhabiting the Gaza Strip. Büttner's works encompass themes of shame, vulnerability, poverty and embarrassment.
Both Lubaina Himid and Hurvin Anderson work in Britain. Their pieces selected for the shortlist explore their black ancestry and depictions of race in the media.
Himid's series entitled Negative Positives, 2007-2017, features clippings taken from The Guardian who bring to the foreground the misrepresentation of black people in the media.
An explanation of Himid's work on her website explains: British newspapers are often seriously challenged when representing the everyday truths about black people’s lives in text and images but as little time ago as 1985, it was rare to see a black person’s face in print at all.
The work began in 2007 the year that Britain ''marked'' the 200th anniversary of the Act of Parliament abolishing the slave trade in Britain. Himid's work explores how The Guardian in particular - a publication which is read by those ''who work predominately in the health service, social services, education and the media'' portray black people.
Another installation of Himid's which will be at the Ferens gallery is The Fashionable Marriage, 1986. The work featuring plywood figures depicts Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, alluding to the ''special relationship'' between the UK and the US, which is still referred to in the media of today.
Anderson's vibrant works explore the identity of communities, at times touching on his own Jamaican heritage. He repeats motifs associated with Afro-Caribbean migrants, paying homage to the cultural history of this group.
Hurvin Anderson's Is it OK To Be Black? 2016 depicts Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Although his works feature political and social themes, he is never directly critical of any individuals or ideologies. Instead, as he does in Is it OK To Be Black?, Anderson celebrates the creativity and visibility of black people throughout history.
With 52-year-old Anderson and 62-year-old Himid both shortlisted, this year also marks the upper age limit of 50 being dropped.
The Turner Prize 2017 exhibition will be at Ferens Art Gallery from 26th September to 7th January, 2018.
