Migration and Art – Look Closer | Tate

Art on the theme of migration

Maggi Hambling 2016

2016

On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art
Zineb Sedira Mother Tongue

2002

On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art
Mark Bradford Los Moscos

2004

On display at Tate Modern part of Living Cities
Mark Wallinger Threshold to the Kingdom

2000
Mark Bradford May Heaven Preserve You From Dangers and Assassins

2010
Lubaina Himid Between the Two my Heart is Balanced

1991

On display at Tate St Ives part of Modern Art and St Ives
William McTaggart The Emigrants

1883–9

On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art
Rotimi Fani-Kayode Sonponnoi

1987, printed c.1987–8

View by appointment
Thomas Schütte The Strangers

1992
Chris Ofili Union Black

2003
Carl Plackman The Immigrant

1985–7
A.R. Penck (Ralf Winkler) West

1980
Virginia Chihota Fighting One’s Self

2016
Billy Apple Relation of Aesthetic Choice to Life Activity (Function) of the Subject

1961–2

On display at Tate Liverpool part of Constellations
Yukinori Yanagi Pacific

1996

Artists in focus

Tania Bruguera

born 1968
Marc Chagall

1887–1985
Rotimi Fani-Kayode

1955–1989
Mona Hatoum

born 1952
Yinka Shonibare CBE

born 1962
Anish Kapoor

born 1954

Explore More

Talking Point

Where do art and migration meet?

Step into the shoes of artists, migrants, and makers as they tell their stories
In Focus

Static 2009 by Steve McQueen

Rachel Wells

This project examines how Static raises questions about freedom, surveillance, migration and the construction of history
Podcast

The Art of Belonging

What does it mean to belong? Artists, writers and poets explore the human stories behind art and belonging
Art Term

Diaspora

Used to describe movements in population from one country to another and is often cited in discussions about identity
TateShots

Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor: The Walk

In September 2015, artists Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor walked across London in solidarity with refugees around the world
Student Resource

Journeys Exam Help

From physical journeys and migration to journeys of self-discovery, get ideas and inspiration about journeys in art
Tate Etc

Let me in: Migrations at Tate Britain

Kamila Shamsie

One writer focuses on the sixteenth-century émigré painter Hans Eworth
Art Term

Black Atlantic

Black Atlantic describes the fusion of black cultures with other cultures from around the Atlantic
List

Eight things to know: Impressionists in London

We explore the lives and careers of French artists on this side of the English Channel
Interview

Frank Bowling: From figuration to abstraction

Bowling reflects on his career and the effect of moving from London to New York had on his work
TateShots

Emeka Ogboh: 'Lagos is a city that is never silent'

When the Nigerian artist first moved to Berlin he couldn’t sleep because it was so quiet
Art Term

Négritude

An anti-colonial cultural and political movement founded by a group of African and Caribbean students in Paris in the 1930s

In the galleries

Video still of Steve McQueen, Static 2009, showing a crop of the statue of liberty

Visit Displays and Exhibitions

See exhibitions, like Steve McQueen, Frank Bowling and displays, like Artist and Society, that explore the theme of migration

Yinka Shonibare, The British Library, 2014 © Yinka Shonibare CBE

Take a Walk Through Tate Modern

In this online tour of artworks at Tate Modern, see how voices respond to themes of movement and migration