Turner Prize heads to Scotland for the first time

The Tramway in Glasgow will host the exhibition and awards in 2015

This year's Turner Prize winner Elizabeth Price was awarded the accolade for her “seductive and immersive” video trilogy (Reuters)

The Turner Prize is heading to Glasgow, dubbed a “centre of excellence” for visual art, the first time the award will be presented in Scotland.

The Tramway was chosen to host the exhibition and awards ceremony in 2015, beating three rival venues to the honour.

It beat competition from the Nottingham Contemporary, the New Art Gallery in Walsall and Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery.

Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, said Glasgow and Scotland has gained international recognition as a centre of excellence of visual arts during the past two decades.

He continued: “For many years, artists who are from Scotland or who have trained at the Glasgow School of Art, one of the world's leading art schools, have been nominated for, or won, the award.”

The Tramway is a contemporary arts centre housed within Glasgow’s former tram depot, and was established in the build-up to the city gaining European Capital of Culture status in 1990.

Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said the Tramway had been described as an “industrial cathedral that connects art with humanity” adding it promotes “the most innovative work by Scottish and international artists”.

The UK’s premier contemporary art prize, which was first awarded in 1984, was presented in London until it was shown at Tate Liverpool in 2007.

Since it was presented at the Baltic in Gateshead in 2011, the prize will be held outside of London on alternate years.

This year, the prize will be presented in Derry-Londonderry, the first holder of the title as UK City of Culture, this year.

The Tramway was selected by a panel that comprised Sir Nicholas, artist Tomma Abts, Laurence Sillars, the chief curator of the Baltic, as well as Caroline Collier and Judith Nesbitt from the Tate.