Shezad Dawood
Production still from A Mystery Play 2010
Commissioned by Plug-In ICA Winnipeg Canada
To coincide with the unveiling of the new Tate Britain, an innovative film programme will be launched on 23 November 2013 to run on Sundays and Mondays until the end of March 2014. Assembly: A survey of recent artists’ film and video in Britain 2008–2013 is a major survey which will recognise and celebrate the breadth of internationally acclaimed single-screen films made over the last five years. It will show work by over 80 artists and feature a mix of curated evening programmes of short works and feature-length films.
Assembly will feature more than 20 film screenings in the Clore Auditorium over twelve weeks. It is the first major survey of new artists’ film and video in Britain in over a decade. These weekly film screenings will highlight the vibrant and expanding field of artists’ cinema.
Sunday afternoons will show artists’ feature films with prize-winning works by Clio Barnard and Ben Rivers, among others. Monday programmes will present curated screenings of diverse works, followed by discussions with invited speakers and artists.
Each week, thematic screenings will represent established artist filmmakers including John Akomfrah, Duncan Campbell, Steven Claydon, Phil Collins, Adam Curtis, Tacita Dean, Anja Kirschner and David Panos, Mark Leckey, Malcolm Le Grice, Karen Mirza and Brad Butler, The Otolith Group, Gail Pickering, Elizabeth Price, Lis Rhodes, John Smith, Emily Wardill and Gillian Wearing, and a new generation of artists will be represented by, among others, Ed Atkins, Anthea Hamilton, Neil Henderson, Laure Prouvost, Samantha Rebello and James Richards.
The survey is based on international contributions from 36 leading specialists who were invited to nominate up to ten film works they regard as outstanding from the last five years. The programme is part of a tradition of film and video surveys such as The New Pluralism (1985) and A Century of Artists’ Film in Britain (2003) shown at Tate Britain.
The programme will be launched with a special free screening during The House Warming Party on 23 November to celebrate the reopening of Tate Britain. Assembly will also feature two special nights of expanded cinema and performances which will be the first artist events held in the new Grand Saloon at Tate Britain.