When purchasing a ticket at the Tate Modern to see the Olafur Eliasson I was asked, I was if I was a member of Tate Collective to which I wasn’t, so I signed up. I have not thought about Tate Collective since then, however, inspired by looking into Yayoi Kusama, I thought I would use my lockdown time to look into the Tate Collective and see what it could offer during quarantine days. In doing this, I have realised how much and varied content that Tate Collective provides!
What Is It?!
Launched in 2018, Tate launched a new membership scheme with the aim of encouraging more young people to visit the four Tate galleries. It’s free to join and it has so many benefits including access to exhibitions for only a fiver, which when you think about it is so cheap especially for exhibitions in London. Former Tate Director, Maria Balshaw, stated:
“We are acting on what 16 to 25-year-olds say they want so that we can make the changes needed for future generations. Our sector should be shaped by their creative energy and their message to us is clear: arts institutions should plan ‘with’ not ‘for’ them.”
With this goal in mind Tate Collective have produced so much content which is just perfect for lockdown. Here are some of my favourite resources provided by Tate Collective.
WATCH
There is a brilliant video looking at four different roles within the Tate galleries. Here are my key takeaways from the video:
| Job Role | Key Points |
|---|---|
| Junior Designers | Keep producing content, always have a individual projects on the go. This not only looks great when applying for jobs but allows you to keep challenging yourself creatively |
| Marketing Assistant | Speaks directly about how to make a successful marketing campaign and the benefits of working with a diverse team. Also really emphasised the importance of individual projects. |
| Assistant Producer within Digital Team | The process behind creating podcasts, videos and websites. As well as some of the people skills you may need. |
| Curator | Openly discusses the benefits of meeting artists but the most interesting point I felt was the discussion of networking a sense of people around you, adding the importance off being aware of those around you and valuing them. |
A point seen across all is that there is not a set route into working in a gallery and to always ask for help when you need it. Here are the top takeaways I will take into account:
- Having a portfolio of individual projects can make you stand out when applying for jobs
- You don’t need to have studied an arts degree nor have an arts background to succeed
- Look out for internships from galleries, plenty offer paid internships
READ
Tate Collective has plenty of short and long reads available on their website. One of my favourite is about the Guerrilla Girls.
The group use research, statistics and humour to make a bigger point, which is in short; across a wide range of public and private galleries only a small percentage of art on display is by women and people of colour. As they put it:
“The history of art is really the power of history”
I’d highly recommend checking out the full article about this group, I personally have really liked this groups work for a long time so it was nice to gain a deeper understanding of their work. Full article here.
LISTEN
Finally, Tate Collective produce a podcast! It’s called ‘The Art Of…’ and is a series telling stories behind the art in the Tate galleries. I’d also recommend the podcast called ‘Walks of Art’. A podcast where they walk around areas of London, where they interview experts about the art of the area. The best part is that it allows you to explore London without even having o leave the house; perfect for lockdown.
Right, I’ve yabbered on now about a few of my favourite bits about this resource it’s your turn to explore it now!