In 2006–7 two significant research grants were awarded to Tate by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The first was as part of the AHRC's strategic initiative, Landscape and Environment, and will consider The Sublime Object. This project looks at the aesthetic category of the Sublime in both its historical and contemporary aspects, making use of the Tate Collection and exploiting our expertise in working with contemporary artists. The project will be undertaken in partnership with university academics and Cape Farewell, an organisation that arranges voyages to confront artists with the sublime landscape of the Arctic. Under the same AHRC programme, we were also awarded a grant to support our participation in a Land Art network.
Our second major research grant from the AHRC was for Tate Encounters: Britishness and Visual Culture, a three-year partnership with London South Bank University designed to yield valuable information about how second-generation migrant families engage with Tate Britain's displays and galleries. We are working closely with students and their families to research and analyse the relationship between visual culture, lived experience and our exhibitions and displays.
This year has also seen 12 doctoral research students commence their studies at Tate under the collaborative AHRC Doctoral Awards Scheme. Students are researching various aspects of our Collection and topics as diverse as the development of the London art market, the Liverpool avant-garde and the workings of the South Bank cultural quarter around Tate Modern.
