July 23 - August 29, 2022
Tate Modern, London
Closest station: Blackfriars
Entry: Free
Last entry: 5.15pm
I am making good use of being a Tate Member and have made my third trip to the Tate Modern this summer. Although the Tate is free to enter, there are other perks to having membership, including entry to all exhibitions including a guest and up to 4 children and access to the members lounge which has great views across London. This time we were heading to Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room.
The Obliteration Room is an artwork that the iconic Japanese artist has created especially for children and families. The space started out as a completely white set of rooms, like a blank canvas. The public are welcome to transform it with brightly coloured dots.
Kusama often uses dots in her paintings and sculptures, she calls this process "obliteration."
The area can be found in the Turbine Hall. Don't be put off, you will see a queue as you enter. This actually moved really quickly, we were queuing for maybe 10 minutes maximum. A staff member will brief your group and hand out one sheet of colourful dot stickers per person.
There were people of all ages in the Obliteration Room, sticking dots on every surface. Sometimes, I feel I am dragging the kids along for my own benefit. I love bright colours. But, both of them really enjoyed the experience, it is like we were part of creating a huge work of art.
Behind the room there are a few graffiti walls, you can take some coloured crayons and rubbers from a table and add to the art.
After this you are free to explore the rest of the Tate Modern. We were lucky enough to see Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror Room a couple of weeks ago. This is a paid for exhibition, but free for members and tickets go like hot cakes.
It closes on August 29th - so there are only a few more days left to get to the Tate Modern and join in!
