Tate Modern (Photography by ⓒ Rikard Osterlund)
Tate Gallery (Tate Gallery: Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, Tate Modern) is Britain’s leading gallery. It has continued working towards lowering the barrier to art and is one of the most popular tourist landmarks as well. Among the 4 centres of Tate Gallery, Tate Modern, which showcases modern art, is most recognized as it is housed in the former power station and is a representative city regeneration building.
Did you know that Hyundai Motor Company and the Tate Modern are doing an art project together? Since 2014, Hyundai Motor Company has signed a 11-year long partnership with the Tate Gallery, and since its first exhibition in 2015, is showing the ‘Hyundai Commission’ exhibition every year. This project exhibits large scale artworks in the heart of Tate Modern, its biggest exhibition room Turbine Hall. Through this project, many questions about social issues are conveyed through innovative modern artists’ works.
The second Hyundai Motor Company X Tate project, Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational
(from the lest) Tate Modern International Art Senior Curator Sook-kyung Lee, Tate Chairman Lionel Barber, Tate Learning and Research Director Anna Cutler, Hyundai Motor Company Customer Experience Chief and Vice President Wong-hong Cho, Tate Modern Director Frances Morris, Director of Exhibitions & Programmes, Tate Modern Achim Borchardt-Hume (Photography by ⓒ Matt Stokes for Miranda Parry Photography)
Following ‘Hyundai Commission’, Hyundai Motor Company and Tate Gallery have begun another meaningful project this January. It’s the funding of ‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational’ establishment, which will fortify the gallery’s global research and academic interchanges. The new research centre will strengthen cooperation between international cultural and art institutions based on Tate Gallery’s expertise and variety and go beyond Europe and North America oriented art trends to pursue integrated research and collaboration that highlights culture, art and history in a 3-dimensional, global perspective.
Recently Hyundai Motor Company and Tate Gallery have concluded a research partnership and announced the establishment of ‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational’
During the first symposium that took place in February, there was a discussion about the cultural and art phenomenon that took place with global solidarity movement of 1950s~1980s during the decolonization of Africa, Asia, Latin America, etc. In the future, the research centre will go beyond the existing Western oriented view of art history, strengthen discussions of contemporary art, and expand knowledge of relatively less researched people, art, and phenomenon.
An opportunity to take a look at the art from a global, encompassing perspective
Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational - Axis of Solidarity symposium, Tate Modern, London (Photography by ⓒ Tate (Jacob Perlmutter))
What changes will the spectators experience with the research centre? They will be able to expect exhibitions and collections that reflect the transnational recognition system. They will learn about the horizontal, non-hierarchical perspective and experience a communicative future. The research centre will hold a large-scale symposium not just for the experts but for artists from all around the world once a year as well as 6 workshops, seminars, and small size events every year.
Ellen Gallagher Bird in Hand 2006 Tate Presented anonymously 2007 (Photography by ⓒ Ellen Gallagher)
Furthermore, there will be many planned exhibitions that reflect original research results to share them with the public. They also operate programs such as symposium, seminar, and workshop that encourage young curators and researchers so that they can aggressively take part in many exchanges.
A hands-on, creative research space for everyone
Atul Dodiya Meditation (with open eyes) 2011 Tate purchased with funds provided by Tate International Council and Tate Patrons 2014 (Photography by ⓒ Atul Dodiya)
What is the vision behind the research centre’s hands-on, creative activities? We talked to the centre leader, Tate Modern’s senior curator Sook-kyung Lee.
‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational’ is led by Tate Modern senior curator Sook-kyung Lee
Q. 'Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational' is a meaningful expansion of the Hyundai Motor Company and Tate Gallery partnership.
I’m happy to develop Tate Gallery collection and programs in an in-depth and wide manner through the partnership with Hyundai Motor Company. Through this collaboration, we will be able to expand our knowledge of people or regional art that are relatively less researched around the world and introduce an international, integrated art history to the public. We anticipate that through such activities, our research centre will lead not only the regional but also an international movement as well.
Q. What does ‘Transnational’ mean?
A transnational paradigm refers to go beyond the national boundaries with flow and movements of people, things, thoughts, etc. It also refers to moving from the existing thought of regarding a country as a fixed, condensed independent being and contemplating about how it is essentially an ‘international’ being. We wish to carry out an in-depth research about mutually innovative cultural encounters and interchanges that have regulated the past & the present cultural productions. We will throw endless questions about the concept of ‘Transnational’ through the research centre activities. Through such process, the meaning of this concept will eventually be clearer. So it can be said that this is not a fixed concept but an open frame, and it will develop with time as our research centre expands knowledge.
Q. What does it mean to view the art history from a transnational point of view?
It’s about questioning the hierarchy and canon (art history standard that has been used in Western oriented art trends) when describing the art history and enhancing understanding or attempting to change the existing ways of understanding of complex relations, networks, exchange of thoughts that have stimulated the modern and contemporary art production throughout the history and around the world.
Q. There’s great anticipation about the international change that ‘Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational’ will bring about, as well as its re-establishment of art history. What is the centre’s future plans?
Our research centre will acquire the latest critical thoughts on international art, curating, gallery operation, etc., and will do our best to share our research results in an open, approachable form. It will also be a hands-on, creative research space for the public where they can take part in actual curating and gallery operation. We will also support excellent academic research for and beyond Tate Gallery, and furthermore contribute to establishing a new framework for the art history.
We plan to carry out various interdisciplinary research programs through collaborations with partners around the world. We’re thinking about events under various topics, symposiums, workshops, as well as discussions with the artists, performances, innovative digital platform research result distribution, etc., through which we plan to expand our international pool of spectators who visit Tate Gallery exhibitions and digital spaces.
