Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth: Shortlist announced for 2026 and 2028 sculptures

The current artwork on the plinth recreates a 1914 photograph of Baptist preacher John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley

A giant sweet potato, a colourful ice cream van and a cat ornament are among the sculptures proposed for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Since 1999 a different artwork has stood on the famous central London space for two years, with winners picked from a shortlist.

Other works on the latest list, which will go on display in 2026 and 2028, include a bird's nest and a golden bronze sculpture of a woman's head.

The winners will be announced in March.

Seven artworks have made the latest shortlist, with two of those set to be commissioned. They are:

The Smile You Send Returns to You

Created by Chila Burman, the sculpture reflects her father's voyage to the UK from India on the HMS Battory, with his ice cream van, The Rocket, taking centre stage.

Believe in Discontent

The title for Ruth Ewan's giant ornamental cat is taken from words spoken by suffragist Charlotte Despard, who would often address crowds in Trafalgar Square - with the artwork reflecting the square's role in history and how women from the suffrage movement would be portrayed as cats in the media as an insult.

Ancient Feelings

Thomas J Price's giant golden bronze sculpture depicts a fictional woman whose features have been taken from a wide range of historic sources and in so creating "a collective community portrait".

Sweet Potatoes and Yams are Not the Same

The sculpture of a "sweet potato island", by Veronica Ryan, represents how the humble root vegetable, which originated in Peru, has travelled the world, thereby reflecting the international conversations that happen in the square.

Hornero

Gabriel Chaile's artwork depicts the unique nest of the Rufous Hornero bird, a national emblem of Argentina, with the bird known for building homes on high surfaces such as light poles and monuments.

Untitled

Featuring a hollow, life-sized person on a horse covered in a shroud and cast in a slime-green resin, Andra Ursuţa's work is said to embody various histories of public sculpture at a time when there is increasing debate about the use of public space.

Lady in Blue

Tschabalala Self's sculpture, which is made of bronze and covered in Lapis Lazuli blue - a rare and refined pigment that has been used since antiquity - pays homage to a young, metropolitan woman of colour.

This year marks 25 years since the first artwork was unveiled on the empty plinth, with 14 different sculptures having stood in the space since then.

The platform currently plays host to Antelope by Samson Kambalu, a bronze resin sculpture which depicts a photograph of Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley, taken in 1914 in Nyasayland (now known as Malawi).

The competition is funded by the mayor of London with support from Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The winners are picked by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, partly based on feedback from the public.

Improntas (Imprints) by Teresa Margolles will be the next sculpture to be unveiled, featuring plaster casts of the faces of hundreds of trans people.

It will go on display in September.

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