The impact of Tate and its programmes stretches well beyond its four galleries and its digital channels. In the last two years Tate has taken stock of its local, national and international relationships. The range and number of partnerships and collaborative projects is extraordinary, comprising specialist and professional networks; exhibitions and works of art toured and exchanged; and relationships with galleries, museums, arts organisations places of scholarship, and community centres. Tate is connected with artists, curators, conservators and professionals as well as with diverse audiences across the world.
Thirty-one of the 70 exhibitions mounted from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2006 toured to 52 venues, 19 in the UK and 33 abroad, and we estimate that a further 1.8 million visitors experienced Tate programmes as a result. Of particular satisfaction was the growth in Tate Liverpool's international reach – Summer of Love toured to the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and Kunsthalle Vienna and attracted record international numbers – and the development of a new touring programme involving eight UK organisations presenting Tate St Ives' exhibitions, including a network of craft galleries for the ceramics shows.
In this two-year period Tate made 325 loans of a total of 1,833 works to 246 exhibitions at 215 different venues. A unique collaboration with the Museo Dolores Olmedo Patiňo and The Henry Moore Foundation resulted in a display – drawn in part from Tate’s collection, and exploring Henry Moore’s interest in pre-Colombian art – that was exhibited in Mexico City in the summer of 2005. In Britain the period saw the conclusion of the Tate Partnership Scheme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund between 2000 and 2005, a project which enabled galleries in Kendal, Norwich, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent and Walsall to borrow a total of 544 works from Tate’s collection. Going forward, the development of regional audiences for Tate’s collection with colleagues in partner galleries will be realised through Visual Dialogues, a project supported by the Strategic Commissioning Fund.
Tate’s reach was extended still further by the publication and worldwide distribution of 88 titles, including 52 catalogues and other publications relating specifically to Tate exhibitions. The highlight was the television tie-in A Picture of Britain, which was top of the hardback bestseller list for four weeks. Combined with other successful titles, this gave Tate Publishing the second largest share of the UK art book market in 2005. Several exhibition catalogues were short-listed for prizes for their design and content, and a new and successful children’s list was established.
