This morning, Tate has announced the detailed program to celebrate the opening of the new Tate Modern on June 17, including new collection displays, three weeks of performances, screenings from the Tate collection, and a seven meter tall Ai Weiwei sculpture for its famous Turbine Hall.
The new incarnation of the iconic institution will see the new collection displays feature a whopping 75 percent of the works acquired since 2000.
The museum is also aiming to be more international and diverse in terms of the works that will be showcased. The new display, thus, will see artists from over 300 different countries hung across the main Boiler House and the new Switch House, which will be free to access.
Ai Weiwei, Tree (2010).
Photo: © Ai Weiwei Studio, Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
“When we open the new Tate Modern in June 2016, we will be creating a new museum for the 21st century that reflects a truly international view of art,” Tate director Nicholas Serota said during the press launch this morning.
Works on display will include old favorites of the Tate collection—such as Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse, and Agnes Martin—joined by new acquisitions of works by artists hailing from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America—including Meschac Gaba, Sheela Gowda, and Cildo Meireles.
Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Hermitos Children, the pilot episode (2008)
Photo: Courtesy Tate.
“The dramatic and beautiful new spaces we have available—from the raw industrial Tanks to the refined galleries in the Switch House above—give us an opportunity to tell the story of modern art in fresh and exciting ways,” said Tate Modern director Frances Morris.
Tania Bruguera Tatlin’s Whisper #5 (2008)
Photo: © Tania Bruguera
The three weeks of performance works that have been programmed throughout the buildings will feature key artists of the field, such as Tania Bruguera and Tino Sehgal, as well as a free series of live art works staged at the Tate Tanks.
During the opening weekend, the museum will be open until 10pm each day and there will be screenings of films from the Tate collection in the newly refurbished Starr Cinema, including works by Derek Jarman, Andrea Fraser, and Rabih Mroue. The highlight of the weekend will be the choral performance by 500 singers from community choirs across London of a specially commissioned piece by the artist Peter Liversidge.
One entire floor of the new Switch House will host Tate Exchange, an “open experiment” which will feature Guerrilla Girls and Tim Etchells who will work over 50 organizations—such as charities, healthcare trusts, and community radio stations—to address social issues through a variety of projects.
The New Tate Modern will open on June 17, 2016.