Tate 2 Tate

 

Tate to Tate

 

VO
There are so many ways of getting to and from London’s biggest attractions, but have you tried this spotted boat designed by Damon Hearst that takes you from the Tate Britain to the Tate Modern? It’s a very short journey and for a round of fiver you can go backwards and forwards as often as you want in a day. The boat’s great, but do we really need two Tates?

 

IV Ben Luke (BL)

I think one of the inevitable things about the collection being split in two, as it were, having two London sites for the Tate meant that to a certain degree when we first opened some people were confused about the remix of the two galleries.

 

VO
Okay, so what exactly is the difference between the two?

BL
Tate Britain is the centre for British Art, essentially, and therefore differs from Tate Modern in that it reflects the history of British Art from 1500 right up to the present day. You can see work by the great masters of British art, such as John Constable, JMW Turner, these really major figures in British art. Tate Modern is our centre for international modern art, and reflects both international developments and British developments from 1900 to now.

 

IV 2 Jane Burton

I mean, we have got some iconic works of art that, you know, there’s Matisse’s Snail, Picassos, there’s Rodan’s The Kiss, and those things you don’t want to miss, as well as catching that buzz of what’s going on in the contemporary art scene. If you think of, kind of, image, Tate Modern is perhaps trendier. It’s partly the building, the place, it’s really buzzy, there’s always things going on. It’s a bit like a plaza out here in the Turbine hall with people bashing in and out, going for coffees, looking at the art, lots of school children. It’s really lively.

 

VOX
And it’s free, which is a bonus.

VOX
Free museums are always good. Free anything is always good, in general.

 

Jane Burton

And one of the best things at Tate Modern is a really good bar which is open late on Fridays and Saturday nights as well, and you can go in and look out over London. It’s got a really nice atmosphere.