Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth: Winning sculptures announced

Tschabalala Self's bronze and blue woman of colour, and Andra Ursuța's resin sculpture of a horse and rider covered in a shroud were chosen

The winning Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth sculptures have been announced for 2026 and 2028.

Tschabalala Self's bronze and blue homage to a metropolitan woman of colour, and Andra Ursuța's resin sculpture of a horse and rider covered in a shroud, were chosen from a shortlist of seven.

A giant sweet potato and colourful ice cream van were among those shortlisted.

Since 1999 various artworks have stood in the famous central London space.

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

Featuring a hollow, life-sized person on a horse covered in a shroud and cast in a green resin, Andra Ursuţa's work, Untitled, 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 will appear on the plinth from 2026, with Untitled replacing it in 2028.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Ms Self said she was "shocked" and "thrilled" at her work being chosen, adding: "I love London. I've spent so much time there, it's always been a city that's supported my art."

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

Ms Self said Lady in Blue was meant to represent "a quotidian figure, a person like all others in the city".

"In my mind I thought of her as a Londoner, a contemporary figure, a woman that many people could identify with.

'Our commonalities'

"She's meant to represent many ideas, mainly the idea of a shared future."

She added: "All the other statues there are kind of these portraits of historical figures - people that have kind of been exalted above all other people in the community, whereas she is meant to be an individual that kind of speaks about a lot of our commonalities."

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

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

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

The platform currently displays Antelope by Samson Kambalu, a bronze resin sculpture depicting a photograph of Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley, taken in 1914 in Nyasayland (now Malawi).

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