Tate Exchange partnership

Tate Exchange is an ambitious "open experiment" which allows other organisations and members of the public to participate in Tate's creative process, running events and projects on site and using art as a way of addressing wider issues in the world around us. 

Over the course of a week, members of the public were invited to join students and staff from SACD as well as local and international partner organisations, in a series of free activities engaging with art, design, film and performance. 

"It has been a great opportunity to work with Tate on an initiative in which we share so many interests and values, and it has been wonderful working with students and staff from across the School to deliver Reading Assembly. 

The Tate Exchange floor has been full of varied activities; a particular highlight for me has been watching our partner schools from Reading taking part in ArtLab's collaborative clay workshops." 

Professor John Gibbs, Head of School of Arts & Communication Design

• Collaborative clay workshops with ArtLab
• Creating and curating a sensory museum with PurpleSTARS
• Imagining London in 2050 through utopian and dystopian visions of a future city
• Letterpress, design, green screen, and video workshops
• Debates, performances and interactive activities on the politics of representation and identity and of artistic production
   

"Yet another exciting session led by the University of Reading ArtLab at the Tate Modern, allowing students to explore and create beyond their comprehension!" 

-Emma Jordan, Teacher, Maiden Erlegh East

Reading Assembly brings together expertise from all three departments within SACD - Typography & Graphic Communication, Film, Theatre & Television, and Reading School of Art. 

Many of our students were central to delivering the activities which took place. This highlighted the University's strength in the creative arts and provided our students with hands-on experience in collaborating with partners and engaging with the public. 

"Teaching our cohorts at the Tate energises the students as they see what they are doing in a wider and international context. It gives them the opportunity to absorb what is in the Tate over an extended time and the relevance of contemporary art to their work. In working with ArtLab they get 'real-world' experience and see how making art at the Tate is exciting and generative for the school children." 

-Professor Rachel Garfield, Head of Reading School of Art