HIGHLIGHTS OF FORTHCOMING PROGRAMME INCLUDE A PROJECT EXPLORING HOMELESSNESS WITH ARTISTS AND EX-SERVICEMEN AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A FAIRGROUND FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FORMER COALMINING COMMUNITIES
Following the opening of the new Tate Modern in 2016, and launched at Tate Liverpool, Tate Exchange, a pioneering programme working with 66 Associates from the arts, health, education and charitable sectors has been inviting the public to collaborate on an unprecedented scale. The first of its kind anywhere in the world, the programme asks the public to test ideas and explore new perspectives, illuminating the value of art to society.
Tate Exchange is a free programme for the public at the Switch House in Tate Modern and at Tate Liverpool and is supported by Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Tate Patrons. Tate is now also pleased to announce a new sponsor, Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source software.
On 8 and 9 April, homelessness will be examined in a programme, State of the Nation, through workshops drawn from the personal experience of ex-servicemen, artists and others as well as from a political perspective, organised by the Museum of Homelessness. The programme will occupy the fifth floor of the Switch House and include installations, performance, workshops and talks. Part story-telling space, part visual report, the programme will offer an overview of hostels, day centres social housing and life on the streets. Stories will be performed by formerly homeless actors, while an installation by artist David Tovey will share the accounts of former military personnel who have experienced homelessness. Speakers from community organisations will discuss the major issues for homelessness in 2017, while The Choir with No Name and musicians from the academy of St Martin in the Fields and the West London Day Centre will perform, and rubbish and clothing from London’s streets will be turned into art in a special fashion show.
From 12-15 April Tate Exchange will host Fairground at Tate Modern; a week of unusual stalls, unexpected tours, pop-up performances and public participation. Using a reconstructed fairground, themes of community, marginalisation, commerce and carnival will be seen from the perspective of former coalmining communities in Wales and Kent through a project organised by Tate Exchange Associates Valleys Kids, Canterbury Christ Church University, People United, the Whitstable Biennale and the University of Kent. Fairgrounds were sites of exchange that enabled traders to buy and sell their goods, but that also drew together diverse populations in carnival, excess and play. For Fairground at Tate Exchange different parts of these traditional fairgrounds are playfully updated and transformed to give a new twist on this space of exchange.
New additional sponsor Red Hat is a pioneer of openness in the IT world, committed to promoting collaboration to solve some of the world’s most complex and challenging problems using open source technologies. Red Hat is rooted in these open principles, with a culture underpinned by values that encourage the continuous and open exchange of ideas.
Leigh Day, vice president, Marketing Communications at Red Hat said, ‘With the launch of Tate Exchange, Tate Modern is inviting everyone who enters its doors to not just admire art, but to participate in it. That collaboration is what makes it so powerful. The principles of open source, where anyone can contribute, introduce new perspectives, or make a difference, now transcend technology and are a de facto model for innovation. Red Hat is thrilled to support Tate Exchange, and invites everyone to experience the power of open collaboration through its programme.’
Co-founders of the Museum of Homelessness, Matt and Jess Turtle said, ‘With homelessness in the UK rising dramatically for a 6th consecutive year, the Museum of Homelessness is pleased to have the opportunity to encourage discussion, debate and creative responses through our State of the Nation programme. Most importantly, the space in Tate Exchange will be a platform for people so often made invisible by our society.’
Miranda Ballin, Artistic Director, ArtWorks, Valleys Kids said, ‘A unique collaboration between two ex-mining communities from South Wales and Kent, with young people, older adults and students from CCCU and the University of Kent, the development of Fairground has been a deeply collaborative experience for all the partners, encouraging creativity, problem solving and risk taking. We have visited each other’s communities, testing out ideas and running workshops together. We now look forward to engaging the public in fun and extraordinary ways with Tate Exchange. It will be an unforgettable experience, particularly for some of the young people who have never had the opportunity to visit London before, let alone create work for the public at Tate Modern. ‘
Tate Exchange’s founding Associates include charities, universities and healthcare trusts as well as smaller organisations that include a range of disciplines involving, among others, architects, writers, health professionals and musicians. The Associates programme marks the second phase of the annual Tate Exchange programme which opened in September 2016. The first phase involved artist projects which drew the visitor into the museum’s creative process for the first time. Artist highlights included events arranged by the Guerrilla Girls, Raqs Media Collective, Christine Sun Kim, Simone Leigh, Lorraine O’Grady, Rashida Bumbray, Fannie Sosa, Larry Achiampong, David Blandy, Kader Attia, Shannon Jackson and many other artists and collectives.
For full details of the programme visit www.tate.org.uk/tateexchange
Tate Exchange is generously supported by
.
and Tate Patrons