FOI - Fourth Plinth Evaluation [Mar 2026]

My interest is in the choice of artists for recent installations on the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square. Please can you provide me with the details of the processes involved with the recent additions for the following artists and their artworks:

• September 2022 – 2024 Samson Kambalu
• 2026 Tschabalala Self
• 2028 Andra Ursuța Antelope Lady In Blue Untitled

For each of the above, I would like details of the following:

1. The submission by the Artist
2. Comments and documents from the decision-making process
3. Names of all those involved in the process
4. Result of the consultation.
5. Full criteria for a submission to be considered.

Our response

Please find below the information we hold within the scope of your request in relation in relation to Antelope, Lady In Blue and Untitled:

1. The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group and a number of international arts professionals are invited to nominate artists for consideration for the Fourth Plinth. Those artists are invited to make a light touch proposal. From the proposals received a smaller number are invited to be part of the final shortlist and create a maquette which form part of an exhibition which(for the past few years) was held at the National Gallery. The maquettes are considered to be the submission by the artist, and the shortlist exhibition and the artist’s maquettes are the defining factor in the final decisions. The full-scale works are replicas of the maquettes. 

Website link for announcement of the most recent winners: Fourth Plinth winners for 2026 and 2028 | London City Hall

2. 2. Please find attached information we hold in relation to the shortlist feasibility for Antelope

Samson Kambalu, Antelope

Named Fabricators: Arteffects (UK); Artful Logistics (UK); AB Foundry (UK); Mtec (UK)

Size: Height of figures 5.5m & 3.7m respectively

Weight:

• 1 tonne
• Deemed to be ‘light’ – ballast/ more significant baseplate likely to be required (additional costs)

Structural/ Design:

• Cast bronze
• Engineering not mentioned (additional costs)

Budget: [Section 43(2)*]

Fabrication Schedule: Approximately 1 year VAT Status: Unknown if artist is VAT registered, based in UK (has UK gallery representation)

Contingency plans: Commission in budget (EX VAT) – Potentially underwritten by: The University of Oxford and Nordenhake in Stockholm, Sweden; Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa; and Kate McGarry Gallery, London

Maintenance: TBC (based on previous commissions fairly simple to maintain)

Tschabalala Self, Lady In Blue

Dimensions (HxWxD in metres): 5.26 x 3.43 x 2.07

Height (metres): 5.2

Weight: Three tonnes

Materials: Painted silicon bronze cast sculpture, using lost wax casting method, with stainless steel internal structure

Finish: The blue of the dress is Lapis Lazuli

Fabricator: Factum Arte (Spain); Mtec (install) (London, UK)

Schedule: Eight to ten months

General notes: Potential 1m reduction in size to reduce costs.

Budget: [Section 43(2)*]

Environmental considerations: TBC

Andra Ursuta, Untitled

Dimensions (HxWxD in metres): 4.4 x 1.25 x 3.9

Height (metres): 4.4

Weight: 1200kg Materials: Resin cast; polyurethane

Finish: Resin cast; polyurethane Fabricator: MDM/ OPS (London/ Norfolk, UK)

Schedule: eight to ten weeks

General notes: Potential 1m reduction in size to reduce costs.

Budget: [Section 43(2)*]

Environmental considerations: Synthetic resins in their unmixed state have to be handled following strict regulations and it is the same material that Rachel Whiteread used for her 2001 Fourth Plinth commission.

* We have withheld the budget information relating to the Fourth Plinth installations because disclosing it would be likely to harm the commercial interests of third parties. Disclosure of the specific costs underwritten by the commercial gallery would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both the gallery and the organisations or artists it works with. Information of this nature is commercially sensitive: if made public, it could influence how third parties approach the commission for funding or partnership opportunities in future, and could place a gallery at a disadvantage in negotiations relating to comparable projects where clients could draw comparisons between financial arrangements intended to remain confidential.

Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity). (2) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

The GLA recognises the legitimate public interest in the release of information relating to the use of public money – noting the public interest is met by the provision of most of the information that is within scope of the request. The right to know must be balanced against the need to responsibly handle financial information and protect the commercial interests of external parties. In balancing the public interest in disclosure, we consider this lies in maintaining the exemption.

3. Available online: Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group | London City Hall

4. Please find attached the relevant information in relation to the winning artists. June 2021 covers Antelope and the other two pieces are in the report dated March 2024.

5. There is no public open submission process for artists to apply to be displayed on the Fourth Plinth. The shortlists for each commission were compiled by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group. The group is formed of experts from the field of contemporary art and architecture, and the membership has changed over the years. It is currently chaired by Ekow Eshun. Additionally, a group of international nominators contributed artists names to ensure the long list of artists was international and diverse. The nominators were curators and arts professionals from around the world.

Public engagement is central to the project. During the commissioning process the public are asked to submit their comments about each of the shortlisted designs, in person or online via the Mayor of London’s website. These comments inform the Commissioning Group’s final decision.