Press release
10 November2015
Tate and Hyundai Card have today announced a new, three-year partnership to support acquisitions and exhibitions of photography. Hyundai Card, Korea’s largest issuer of premium credit cards, will sponsor a photography exhibition at Tate Modern each year in 2016, 2017 and 2018, starting in February 2016 with Performing for the Camera. The partnership will also provide funds for Tate to acquire important photographs for the national collection, beginning with a group of works by Roger Ballen.
Tate’s commitment to photography has continued to grow in recent years, with many exhibitions at all four Tate galleries across the UK and major acquisitions of work by photographers from around the world. The new partnership with Hyundai Card will build on these successes, reflecting photography’s ever more important role in contemporary culture and today’s art practices.
Hyundai Card’s commitment to the arts will expand greatly with the Tate photography partnership. Hyundai Card is a global patron of modern and contemporary art and design, supporting museums and exhibitions in five different countries, as well as hosting and curating its own exhibitions in Seoul. The partnership with Tate will be Hyundai Card’s first ever photography-related sponsorship, as well as its first exhibition sponsorship in the United Kingdom.
The acquisition fund provided by Hyundai Card will help Tate’s collection of photography to continue growing. In the first year of the partnership, this support will be used to acquire a set of 41 works by Roger Ballen (b.1950) drawn from three of his key projects: Dorps 1982-5, Outland 1983-2000 and Platteland 1986-94. Ballen has lived in South Africa since the 1970s, where he began photographing remote towns and villages and the people living there. The alienated and forgotten white communities living in poverty offered Ballen a unique subject for his portraiture, as well as a way to address universal issues of economics and identity.
The partnership with Hyundai Card will also allow Tate Modern to stage a major photography exhibition in each of the next three years. The first of these, Performing for the Camera, will run from 18 February to 12 June 2016, exploring the relationship between photography and performance, and the humour and improvisation of posing for the camera. The show will bring together over 500 images spanning 150 years, from the invention of photography in the 19th century to the selfie culture of today.
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said: “Photography has never been more important to our culture and our lives in general, and Tate’s programme strives to reflect this. I am delighted that Hyundai Card will be supporting us in acquiring new works and through staging major new exhibitions like Performing for the Camera.”
Ted Chung, CEO of Hyundai Card, said: “Today, photography has surpassed its origins as a method of mechanical recording to become one of contemporary art’s most experimental mediums of expression. Its public accessibility has also made it one of art’s most familiar forms. Following our desire to bring contemporary art closer to the public, Hyundai Card is honoured to have the privilege of sponsoring Tate’s exploration of this dynamic medium.”
Hyundai Card has been a corporate member of Tate since 2014. Through its “Global Museum Pass” program, Hyundai Card grants select cardholders and groups of non-cardholding students free entry into all special exhibitions held at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Hyundai Card is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.
For press information contact Cecily.Carbone@tate.org.uk or Emma.Double@tate.org.uk
or call +44(0)20 7887 8731/4942. For high-resolution images visit tate.org.uk/press
Notes to Editors
About Hyundai Card:
Hyundai Card is a leading premium credit card company based in Seoul, Korea.
Hyundai Card is more than just a finance company, interested only in numbers; it is also an enthusiastic promoter of design and art, finding ways to embrace them in every area. Whether it’s building libraries on design, travel, and music for Hyundai Card members to enjoy, crafting concert experiences that are meticulous to the last detail, or designing credit cards as beautiful as they are functional, Hyundai Card’s most inventive endeavours all draw from the creative well that the arts provide.
The company is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group. It has been named the credit industry’s “Most Respected Company” and “Most Desired Employer” by Korea’s largest management consultancy association. It was also ranked #1 in customer satisfaction for five years in a row by Korea’s National Customer Satisfaction Index.
For more information, please visit www.hyundaicard.com.