British artist Mark Wallinger stands in front of his artwork "Sleeper" after winning the 2007 Turner Prize at the Tate Liverpool gallery in Liverpool, northern England Dec. 3, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Mark Wallinger won Britain's 2007 Turner Prize for art at a ceremony in Liverpool on Monday. 

    His film "Sleeper," 154 minutes of him disguised as a bear wandering around a deserted German gallery, but recognisable by his very particular gait, has baffled and entranced visitors to the Turner prize exhibition by turns.

    The prize was officially given not for "Sleeper," but for "State Britain" -- his meticulous re-creation of Brian Haw's anti-war protest in Parliament Square. That was praised by the judges for its "immediacy, visceral intensity and historic importance," combining "a bold political statement with art's ability to articulate fundamental human truths."

   Award-winners must be resident in the U.K., though they need not be British nationals to be eligible. Turner Prize is one of the art world's most controversial awards.

 (Agencies)

British artist Mark Wallinger (L) stands with U.S. actor Dennis Hopper after his piece "Sleeper" won the 2007 Turner Prize at the Tate Liverpool gallery in Liverpool, northern England Dec. 3, 2007. Wallinger on Monday won the Turner Prize, one of the art world's most controversial awards, for a film of him parading round a Berlin gallery at night dressed as a bear.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>