Tate Liverpool Wolfson Room
Friday 21 May – Monday 30 August 2010
Tate Liverpool is to unveil two new Liverpool-based video commissions by acclaimed Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra, in a new exhibition Rineke Dijkstra: I See a Woman Crying (27 April – 30 August).
Dijkstra filmed children from Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School in Garston, Liverpool interpreting Picasso’s painting Weeping Woman (1937), which is part of the gallery’s free display DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture. This resulted in the thought-provoking works The Weeping Woman, Tate Liverpool and Ruth Drawing Picasso, Tate Liverpool, which go on display at the gallery this week. The exhibition is to be opened by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Mike Storey CBE, who is the head teacher of Plantation Primary School in Halewood.
The artist held a residency at Tate Liverpool in 2008, as part of the exhibition The Fifth Floor: Ideas Taking Space. She became fascinated by Tate Liverpool’s “work in focus” sessions with local school children, where an artwork is looked at carefully for a prolonged period and the children are then encouraged to discuss it. Dijkstra saw the children discover the work for themselves, displaying imaginative and sometimes emotional reactions. Dijkstra worked closely with four schools during her stay: North Liverpool Academy in Anfield, St Michael’s Catholic Primary, Tuebrook, Holy Trinity Catholic Primary in Garston and Burscough Priory Science College, Ormskirk. This culminated in the filming of three “work in focus” sessions with groups of pupils from Holy Trinity Catholic Primary, one of which became the final installation which is to be displayed at the gallery.
The exhibition showcases Tate Liverpool’s groundbreaking work with the local community, and demonstrates the ongoing positive legacy of Capital of Culture ‘08. Tate Liverpool’s learning programmes directly reach over 60,000 people every year that may not otherwise have had access to cultural experiences, including 20,000 school pupils.
Lindsey Fryer, Head of Learning at Tate Liverpool, said, “Rineke’s involvement with Tate Liverpool and this resulting exhibition highlights how we bring internationally acclaimed artists to the city, providing local people with unique creative experiences. Local communities are at the heart of what we do, and we’re delighted that the children of Merseyside inspired Rineke to create this new work.”