Northern Ireland

Derry art gallery that hosted Turner Prize to close

The Turner Prize exhibition at Ebrington in Derry in 2013. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
The Turner Prize exhibition at Ebrington in Derry in 2013. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin The Turner Prize exhibition at Ebrington in Derry in 2013. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

AN ART gallery in Derry that hosted the Turner Prize exhibition is set to close.

The Nerve Visual gallery, within the Nerve Centre in Ebrington Square, has hosted 13 exhibitions since it re-opened in 2016.

The prestigious Turner Prize was hosted in 2013 as part of Derry's year as UK city of culture.

Funding for the gallery space had been awarded on a project-by-project basis, but it has not received any core funding in the past three years.

The Northern Ireland Executive, which runs the gallery, said it intended to close it early next month.

"The Executive Office is currently considering options for the section occupied by Nerve Gallery," it said.

Arts reviewer Dominic Kearney said encouraging people to visit the gallery had been difficult.

"I've been in the gallery a few times and I don't think I've been in when anybody else was," he told the BBC.

"Certainly it's sad news, it has gone from 2013, The Turner Prize and now it's just another empty space."