Shibboleth at the Tate Modern
One of the very best things about the Tate Modern is the Turbine Hall. The art gallery is located in a former power station, and the giant Turbine Hall (literally where the Turbines used to be located) is reserved each year for a unique, large-scale piece of modern art. Each exhibition lasts generally from the fall through the spring. This years exhibition, “Shibboleth” just opened to the public.
The first time I ever went to the Tate Modern was for the “Weather Project,” an archive of which can be found online here. It was absolutely AMAZING. The entire ceiling (~8-10 stories above) was mirrored metal and the room was completely dark except for a semi-circle of yellow light at one end. (It was located at the ceiling, so the mirrored metal made it look like a sun.) People would just lay in the hall, look up at themselves, at the yellow “sun”, and if I remember right there was also a light fog from theatrical fog machines. It’s a little difficult to describe, but was sensational.
Other exhibitions have included slides (fun for kids and adults!) by Carsten Holler, and a virtual landscape built from white plastic boxes by Rachel Whiteread.
This years’ exhibition is called “Shibboleth.” As usual, the installations are always a bit controversial. The artist Doris Salcedo has created a crack in the floor of the Turbine Hall, just an inch or so across at the start, and growing to a large chasm at the other end.
In particular, Salcedo is addressing a long legacy of racism and colonialism that underlies the modern world. A ‘shibboleth’ is a custom, phrase or use of language that acts as a test of belonging to a particular social group or class. By definition, it is used to exclude those deemed unsuitable to join this group.
‘The history of racism’, Salcedo writes, ‘runs parallel to the history of modernity, and is its untold dark side’. For hundreds of years, Western ideas of progress and prosperity have been underpinned by colonial exploitation and the withdrawal of basic rights from others. Our own time, Salcedo is keen to remind us, remains defined by the existence of a huge socially excluded underclass, in Western as well as post-colonial societies.
I highly recommend a visit to the Tate Modern (which I will write about soon), and specifically recommend seeing “Shibboleth” (or any exhibition in the Turbine Hall). It’s art on a scale you will rarely see elsewhere.
Where: Tate Modern Gallery. Closest Tube stations are St. Pauls, Blackfriars, London Bridge, Southwark on the Central, District, Cirle, Jubilee, and Northern Lines. I recommend walking to the Tate Modern from either St. Pauls or Blackfriars station, and across the Millenium Bridge (designed by Lord Foster, and pedistrian-only).
When: Shibboleth is on display from now until 6 April
Times: Sunday – Thursday, 10am – 6pm
Friday & Saturday, 10am – 10pm
Cost: Free! (Donations to the Tate are always welcome.)
Map:
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