Abdul Abdullah wins 2025 Packing Room Prize

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has announced Abdul Abdullah as the winner of the 2025 Packing Room Prize for his portrait No Mountain High Enough, depicting fellow artist and best friend Jason Phu. Now in its 34th year, the $3000 prize is awarded by the Gallery’s installation staff, who receive, unpack and hang all Archibald entries.

“We were instantly drawn to Abdul Abdullah’s portrait of Jason Phu,” said Alexis Wildman, senior installation officer. “…It really captures the essence of the subject with the image of a lone ranger, an intrepid jokester or a quiet hero navigating the rocky terrain of today’s social climate.” Phu is himself an Archibald finalist this year for his humorous portrait of actor Hugo Weaving, and previously won the Sulman Prize in 2015.

Abdullah, now based between Melbourne and Bangkok, has been an Archibald finalist seven times. “It is always an honour to be selected as a finalist for the Archibald Prize, and I am especially honoured to be picked for the Packing Room Prize. I see it as a sort of community prize… It’s kind of like an artists’ pick, and I’m extra happy for that,” he said.

The announcement coincides with the release of the 2025 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize finalists. Out of 2394 entries, 139 finalists were selected: 57 for the Archibald, 52 for the Wynne, and 30 for the Sulman, which had a record 732 entries. For the first time, more women than men are finalists across all prizes, which is particularly notable during Maud Page’s historic year as the Gallery’s first female director.

Page noted that many works showed “the small delights of life,” with humour offering a way to navigate difficult and sad themes.

Winners of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be announced on Friday 9 May, with exhibitions opening 10 May. See the AGNSW website for the full list of finalists.