Tate Liverpool
On 23 May 1988 Tate Liverpool opened its doors for the first time and from Saturday 3 to Monday 5 May, Tate Liverpool will be throwing open its doors for a weekend of special events and inviting visitors of all ages to rediscover the finest modern and contemporary art, engage in a variety of activities and celebrate a momentous 20 years.
Families will be spoilt for choice with a host of fun-filled action-packed events. Artist Graham Marsden will be enlisting both tiny and grown-up hands to help him build a maze of colourful dens that will transform the ground floor gallery. This drop-in event will be open from 13.30 – 16.30 and is suitable for children of all ages.
Liverpool Lantern Company and Young Tate come together to encourage visitors to try their hand at making colourful lanterns from 14.00 – 17.00 on Saturday 3 May. Let your imagination run wild with hands-on workshops. Lanterns will then be paraded through the gallery and around the Albert Dock at 18.00, before being fixed to the Dock’s Hartley Bridge.
On Saturday 3 May resident Tate storyteller John Hughes will be telling tall tales and performing his interactive poems in the galleries from 13.00 – 15.00; and on Monday 5 May Liverpool Libraries will take up the story telling challenge from 13.00 – 15.00. These activities are free and open to all ages. Families can also get involved with birthday games and try their hand at cake decorating throughout the weekend.
Grown-ups will also be catered for, with events that bring together art, comedy, music and photography. Comedians such as Alexei Sayle and Brendan Riley will be raising smiles as they lead giggle tours of the Tate collection display DLA Piper Series: The Twentieth Century – How it looked and how it felt. From 11.00 – 13.00 on each day a different comedian will spark laughter and poke fun at their favourite Tate works. Tickets for this event are £7 (£5.50 concessions).
Artists that have worked with Tate Liverpool in the last 20 years will be returning to reflect on their experiences and the role the gallery played in their artistic careers. On Saturday 3 May Paula Rego will be ‘in conversation’ with Lewis Biggs and on Monday 5 May Susan Hiller will discuss her work and career with Tate Liverpool Director Christoph Grunenberg. These artist talks take place from 14.00 – 16.00 and tickets are priced at £10, £8 concessions.
Shoot Experience return to their favourite Northern city to host special photography ‘treasure hunts’ around the city and waterfront on the theme of ‘the senses’. Visitors can take part from 11.15 – 20.00 on Saturday and Sunday, with selected photos exhibited at Tate Liverpool later in the month. Tickets cost £12, £10 concessions.
Those of a musical inclination can enjoy free live performances by Sense of Sound a capella choir from 16.00 – 20.00 on Saturday 3 May, who will fill the interior of Tate Liverpool and the Albert Dock with interactive birthday tunes that have a modern twist.
On Saturday 3 May from 19.00 – 23.00 Tate Liverpool will be hosting its very own Northern Soul night with a rich line-up of well-known Northern Soul DJs including Phil Saxe, Ste Hodge and other DJs from the Vertigo club night in Manchester. Long After Tonight, a mesmerising film by Beck’s Futures award-winning Matt Stokes of a Northern Soul reunion, will be screened as revellers demonstrate their dancefloor prowess. Tickets for this event are free, but booking is essential.
For more information on the birthday weekend activities visit www.tate.org.uk/liverpool. To book for ticketed events please call Tate Liverpool on 0151 702 7400.
The Albert Dock will also be celebrating with a weekend of free events including face painting, a family treasure hunt, an exhibition of vintage photography and the Savoy Jazz Men who will be performing at various locations across the Dock.