For the first time in its history, four artists have decided to share the Turner Prize, a prestigious contemporary art prize in the UK. The decision came after the nominees wrote a letter to the judges before the award ceremony on asking to split the award, which comes with a £40,000 ($53,000) prize. 

Oscar Murillo, Tai Shani, Lawrence Abu and Hamden Cammock, the nominated artists for the 2019 Turner art prize, said in their letter to the judges: "At this time of political crisis in Britain and much of the world... we feel strongly motivated to use the occasion of the prize to make a collective statement.”

The four artists' exhibits focused on the themes of migration, the patriarchy and torture. They added in their letter that it would be problematic to pit them against each other in this competition because it would imply that one issue they covered was more important than the others.  

Cammock told AFP that the artists had decided that it was important to share the prize because their art "all engaged in forms of social or participatory practice." Cammock's exhibit focused on women's involvement in Northern Ireland's civil rights movements.

Edward Enninful, the editor of British Vogue, called the candidates' decision to share the prize as "incredible" when he introduced all four of the winners to the stage during the award ceremony. 

Murillo, one of the other contestants, explored his experience growing up in Colombia before moving to the UK when he was 11 by combining sculpture, an abstract painting and a multi-media installation in his exhibit. He had been the favorite to win the competition. 

Hamdan, an artist from Beirut, recreated the acoustic memories of Syrian prisoners during the civil war for his entry. London-based Shani spent five years on her project and explored the theme of feminism through live performance and sculpture.

The four exhibits have been on display since September at the art gallery in Margate, a town in the South-East of England where the British artist Turner once lived. 

Around 60,000 people have already visited the the gallery to see these exhibits.