In May 2006, to coincide with the rehang of the Collection displays at Tate Modern, we announced plans for an annual festival of performances, film and major art commissions, coupled with a family programme, that would run over the late May Bank Holiday. With the Collection displays at its centre, UBS Openings: The Long Weekend explores the connections between the visual arts and a wide range of cultural forms including music and theatre.
The inaugural programme was a great success. Futurist Friday, Surrealist Saturday, Abstract Sunday and Minimalist Monday saw a wide range of performances from musicians including Courtney Pine and DJ Spooky, film screenings such as Hans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy (1946) and Kenneth Macpherson’s Borderline (1930), a rare staging of a Trisha Brown Dance Company work of a man walking down the side of the building, and a re-creation of the Joan Miró puppet show Merma Never Dies. Specific family activities included the Great Turbine Challenge, a huge board game exploring seminal works from the Collection, which was played by over 1,000 families during the four days.
