Press Release

Tate reaches record numbers across the world

Tate had one of the largest reaches of any arts organisation in the world in 2011/12. It was a record year for loans as 1,621 works were lent to 279 venues across the world, including 1,105 works to 147 venues in the UK. A total of 7.1 million people visited the four Tate galleries.

 These figures are given in detail in Tate’s Annual Report 2011/12 which is published today.

 Achievements of the Year

  • Tate has strengthened its partnerships with 18 regional galleries across the UK through its Plus Tate network, offering support, collection loans and expertise in a challenging economic climate. Three Plus Tate partners opened their new galleries to the public and all have achieved record attendances. 
  • Art in Yorkshire, Supported by Tate drew 1.5 million visitors to twenty-seven exhibitions and David Hockney’s Bigger Trees Near Warter 2007 was seen inYorkshire by more than 240,000 people. 
  • ARTIST ROOMS On Tour with the Art Fund were presented at 14 venues this year and have now been seen at a total of 44 venues in 91 exhibitions and displays. Martin Creed joined the ARTIST ROOMS collection with the gift of a new room of seven works. 
  • A highlight of the international exhibition programme was William Blake and British Visionary Art at the Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Plans were made this year to tour Turner: The Makings of a Master toAustralia andJapan in 2013/14. 
  • Fundraising for the £45 million Tate Britain Millbank Project was completed and the newly refurbished galleries will open to the public next year. The development will enable Tate to show the full richness of its collection of British art. It will also open up the first floor of the gallery to the public for the first time since 1928. 
  • The Tanks opened at Tate Modern, the world’s first museum galleries permanently dedicated to exhibiting live, performance, installation and film works. Over three quarters of the total capital costs of £215 million for the Tate Modern Project has been raised. 
  • Tate Liverpool continued to be one of the most popular modern art galleries outsideLondonand for the first time was able to open to the public seven days a week throughout the year. 
  • Tate acquired a total of 516 works for the collection to the value of £7.9 million. Seventy artists not yet represented in the collection were added, 47 of whom are from outside the UK. 
  • Tate launched its new website in March which had 1.7 million unique visitors in its first month. At the end of March, Tate had over 620,000 followers on Twitter and 370,000 “likes” on Facebook, figures which continue to grow. 
  • The relaunch of the Clore Learning Centre at Tate Modern in May 2011 has enabled 49,000 visitors to participate in programmes in the new spaces. 
  • 61% of Tate’s funding came from earned and private sources in 2011-12. Over the past five years Tate has increased its self-generated income by 15% compared to the 5% increase in grant-in-aid. 
  • Tate Enterprises Ltd contributed a profit of £4.9 million through retail, publishing and catering. 
  • Each month 34,000 young people globally use turbinegeneration. Forty-seven countries are now participating in this online learning space created by Tate with the support of Unilever.  
  • The first public screening of the Tate Movie Project’s The Itch of the Golden Nit, in which more than 34,000 children across theUK participated, took place inTrafalgar Square in July 2011. 
  • In September 2011, Tate launched its Africa Acquisitions Committee, joining the 150 other individuals who are members of Tate’s acquisition committees across the world. 
  • Tate appointed Elvira Dyangani Ose as Curator International Art, supported by Guaranty Trust Bank, to develop Tate’s work inAfrica. Tate’s painting conservators travelled to the National Gallery of Zimbabwe to conserve three important early paintings by Chris Ofili. 
  • Tate’s carbon emissions decreased by 19% from 2008 to 2012, beating our target of 15% reduction.  

Major works acquired for the Tate Collection this year included: 

  • Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds 2010, a work derived from the seeds used in his Unilever Series commission. 
  • Richard Deacon’s Restless 2005, a gift from the artist 
  • Arthur Hughes’s (1832–1915) Elaine with the Armour of Launcelot c.1867 and The Singer c.1866, a major bequest 
  • Cecil Gordon Lawson’s The Hop-Gardens of England 1874 
  • the bequest of Nimai Chatterji’s important archive of 20th century documents and publications 
  • the donation of a group of works by Don McCullin from Eric and Louise Franck 
  • 58 photographs by Lewis Baltz, San Quentin Point 1982 acquired with funds from PAC 
  • Olga Chernysheva’s On Duty 2007, presented by VTB Capital 2011 
  • Hala Elkoussy’s On red nails, palm trees and other icons – Al Archief (Take 2) 2009, with funds from MENAAC 
  • Susan Hiller’s Dedicated to the unknown Artists 1972-6, with assistance from the Art Fund 
  • Works by Martin Creed, Jeff Koons and Robert Mapplethorpe were added this year to the ARTIST ROOMS collection. 
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