Tate's Priorities: Art and Ideas
Tate is distinctive in the museum world. We share the national collection of British, modern and contemporary art and are a family of museums, each with its own identity but united in the common purpose of promoting knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of art through the Collection and our programmes.
Collection
Our Collection sits at the heart of Tate. We show it, share it, and base our research and learning programmes around it.
Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1500 and of international modern art. The collection numbers over 65,000 works and is constantly evolving.
Our priority over the coming years is to develop the Collection to reflect a more global and diverse account of emerging art, particularly non-Western art, and a broader range of artistic practice.
Tate’s Collection is displayed at the four gallery sites as well as across the UK and the world via a series of partnerships, loans and touring exhibitions.
The entire Collection is also available to search and view online.
Tate’s Collection Care department looks after the Collection to make sure all of the works are preserved for future generations and made accessible to the public.
Tate works with a wide range of colleagues, internally and outside, to advance expertise and promote conservation best practice in museums around the world.
Programme
Tate runs a regular programme of special exhibitions and Collection displays at each gallery. These are designed to surprise, challenge and inspire Tate's audiences.
Each gallery maintains its own identity, with artistic programmes and audiences to match. But what they share is a commitment to facilitating extraordinary experiences between people and art.
Our aim going forward is to maximise the relevance and impact of our programme for a wide range of audiences by focusing on a core of exhibitions and displays that underscore the individual identity of each of our galleries and emphasise Tate's distinctive contemporary approach.
Research
Scholarly research underpins all that we do, from our exhibitions and displays to how we interact with audiences. It increases our knowledge of the Collection, providing fresh perspectives and helping create cutting edge exhibitions, displays and learning programmes.
We are taking important steps to strengthen our research infrastructure, reinforcing Tate’s reputation as a leading international research and learning institution.
In particular we are focusing on collaborating with other scholars, colleagues and organisations to build knowledge of art and artistic practice through a series of Tate Research Centres. We publish our findings and knowledge as widely as possible via our website and in journals, forums and research networks.