Summer commissions
Mega Please Draw Freely, 2021
© Rikard Österlund
24 July – 15 August 2021
UNIQLO Tate Play invited visitors to draw on banners and all over the floor of the Turbine Hall in an ever-changing artwork, Mega Please Draw Freely, by artist Ei Arakawa. Your drawings combined with the drawings of others – those who came before you and those who came after you – to create this living mega artwork! The banners were hung up each Monday for everyone to see.
Inspired by the Gutai group – radical Japanese artists who wanted to change the world through painting, performance and children’s play – everyone of all ages was welcome to scribble, sketch and become part of this collective artwork.
Ei Arakawa's Mega Please Draw Freely Picnic
14 August 2021 at 11.00–19.00
15 August 2021 at 11.00–19.00
Visitors could bring their own picnic or pick up some food from the café and enjoy an indoor picnic and playful activities at Tate Modern. They could draw on the Turbine Hall floor and on banners among the theatrical pine forest of UNIQLO Tate Play: Ei Arakawa's Mega Please Draw Freely.
Visitors could also experience the special recreation of Gutai artist Motonaga Sadamasa’s performance work, Work (Smoke) 1957, which creates art from puffing giant smoke rings into the air, illuminated by coloured lights.
The Obliteration Room, 2022
23 July – 29 August 2022
Everyone was invited to transform a completely white domestic apartment into a sea of colourful dots. UNIQLO Tate Play: The obliteration room was an interactive artwork for all ages. Visitors were given a sheet of colourful ‘dot’ stickers to help bring the space to life.
As well as having a chance to cover every available surface in the space with bright circular stickers, families could create their own work of art to add to an ever-growing garden in the Turbine Hall.
Rasheed Araeen, Zero to Infinity, 2023
Photo © Tate (Lucy Green)
22 July – 28 August 2023
Zero to Infinity will transformed the Turbine Hall and visitors were invited to take part. What started as 400 cubes set out in a square became an ever-changing structure.
Instead of looking at the sculpture, Araeen invited visitors to take it apart and make something new. They touched, moved, shifted, stacked and balanced the cubes, exploring ideas of symmetry, shape, and geometry.
Up on the bridge, visitors could take part in a range of family-friendly activities inspired by Zero to Infinity and learn more about the artist. They got creative and explored topics like symmetry, geometry and infinity. Through playing, handling, adding, and taking away, these ideas took form.
Rasheed Araeen, Shamiyaana: Food for Thought, Thought for Change
12–28 August 2023
Shamiyaana’s structure outside Tate Modern was based on a tent used in marriage ceremonies across India and West Asia, where guests are welcomed and served delicious platters of food. Vivid, brightly coloured symmetrical tents echoed the playful structure of Zero to Infinity as part of UNIQLO Tate Play: Rasheed Araeen, Zero to Infinity. In both works, Araeen explored breaking ever-changing structures to create a sense of community and something new.
Oscar Murillo, The flooded garden, 2024
Oscar Murillo The flooded garden Tate Modern 20 July - 26 August 2024. Photo by Tim Bowditch and Reinis Lismanis, courtesy the artist. Copyright © Oscar Murillo
20 July – 26 August 2024
Artist Oscar Murillo transformed the Turbine Hall into an enormous painting garden. Oscar invited everyone to join him in creating a vibrant work of epic proportions. Visitors could pick up a paintbrush and make their mark using wave-like strokes to flood a giant canvas. Once the canvases were flooded with paint they were displayed on scaffolding in the Turbine Hall.
The flooded garden was inspired by Claude Monet’s paintings of his flower garden in Giverny, France, and builded upon Oscar’s own series of Surge works. For inspiration, works from this series were on display in the South Tank, featuring expressive oil paint flowing across their surfaces, like water.
The flooded garden: performances
Selected dates in July and August 2024
Inspired by Oscar Murillo’s enormous painting garden in the Turbine Hall, musicians, percussionists and performers from around the world came together to flood the Tate Modern with music and movement.
Every week, the Turbine Hall was filled with the folkloric sounds of Mar, Río y Cordillera, a group of 13 musicians from the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, creating a layered soundscape of voice.
Monster Chetwynd: Thunder, Crackle and Magic, 2025
Artist Monster Chetwynd created three fantastical sets in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Each stage was a living spectacle of creatures, costumes and handcrafted props. Visitors could slip through the backstage shadows, act out scenes, and watch as the drama unfolds.
On the first stage, Dragon Island, visitors could play the role of a performer, musician, or mischief-maker, tasked with charming a dragon. They could throw on costumes, animate puppets, and create movement and sound in Wild Animal Forest. Finally, visitors could face the forces of wind, fire and water in Tested by the Elements.
Chetwynd’s installation is inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 film, The Magic Flute. Bergman's film is an adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 1791 opera of the same name. The story follows a group of characters as they overcome monsters, villains and other perils.
Lina Lapelytė, Serendipity Island, 2026
Uniqlo Tate Play Lina Lapelytė, Serendipity Island at Tate Modern, 2026. Photo © Tate (Reece Straw)
25 July – 31 August 2026
Artist Lina Lapelytė created a maze-like installation, transforming the Turbine Hall into a collaborative stage. Visitors could create the work as they became part of it, moving through a grid of wooden barriers. They were also free to quietly watch the performance unfold from the Turbine Hall bridge.
Lina is interested in how individual sounds and actions come together to create music and choreography. Visitors were encouraged to listen out for sounds that invited them to move or make a noise, and perform a series of actions that contribute to a ‘score’. The sounds and actions they made joined with others, creating a shared composition.
Easter commissions
Dream Buildings, 2022
Working Model © Jack Offord
2–18 April 2022
Visitors could Play-Build-Dream with the help of constructive play experts Woodland Tribe who were on hand to bring visitors' ideas to life. It was all about making and shaping using hammers, saws and drills.
In her Tate Modern exhibition, artist Lubaina Himid explored dreams, beauty, risk-taking and imagined spaces. She is passionate about the designs and build of the spaces we live in. She invited visitors to imagine and build their own city in the Turbine Hall.
Using huge quantities of wood and real tools, the space was transformed into an adventure playground built by children inspired by artist Lubaina Himid’s blueprints of doorways, wheeled things and more.
Movement of the Earth Workshop, 2023
Photography Dan Weill
1 April – 16 April 2023
Visitors started by making a wearable ‘quipu’, inspired by Cecilia Vicuña’s vast ceiling-height artwork which hung overhead; inspired by the Amazon rainforests, the environment and life cycles.
Next was an optional guided movement workshop for smaller groups. Led by dance artist and choreographer Vidya Patel, visitors explored sound, movement, words, and the natural rhythms within.
On the final day of the workshop (16 April), families can experience a moving performance of Vidya’s own routine under the giant Quipu, which weaves together live dance, music, singing and poetry.
Yoko Ono: Do it Yourself, 2024
'Yoko Ono, Shadow Piece , installed in YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND, Tate Modern, London, 2024. Photo © Tate (Lucy Green)
30 March – 14 April 2024
In 1964, Yoko Ono published a book of instructions called ‘Grapefruit’. Some of the instructions are short, just one word long, and others have many parts inviting you to make, move and imagine. By following these instructions, on your own and with others, visitors were invited to take part in artworks. They could fold paper and read. They could dance with chairs. They could make a wish. They could sweep, breathe and whisper – together, alone or even in their mind!
At the start of your journey we invited visitors to fold an origami crane called an orizuru. This is a symbol of peace throughout Japan. Ono says that all her work is a ‘form of wishing’. For the artist, the most important wish is one for peace.
Concept: Takeshi Matsumoto
Created and performed by Makiko Aoyama, Mari Camiloti, Ghost Chan @ Hidden Keileon, Masumi Saito and Takeshi Matsumoto
Costume designer: Giulia Scrimieri
Costume maker: Paulina Knol
Bruce Asbestos, S/S 2025
Photo © Tate (Reece Straw)
5 – 21 April 2025
Get ready to meet Dash – a larger-than-life, colourful snail sculpture inspired by Henri Matisse’s iconic collage The Snail (L’escargot)! Dash will greet visitors to Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall this Easter as part of a giant snail-themed catwalk created by artist Bruce Asbestos.
Matisse was known for using whatever materials were available to him, turning simple cut-outs from scrap paper into masterpieces. In the same spirit, Bruce encourages you to unleash your creativity to create a costume using paper, paint, and card – recycled, repurposed, and ready to shine! Then, take centre stage and join the parade to show off your amazing, weird and wonderful designs on the runway – set to a special soundtrack by British grime artist Snowy.
Linda Bell: Loop. Swing. Shake. Remake, 2026
Courtesy of the artist and ActionSpace
28 March 2026 - 12 April 2026
Linda Bell creates huge and colourful sculptures, which she often animates through movement and workshops. Inspired by her playful work, visitors could view and interact with Linda’s sculptures and make their own by expanding on her use of materials, colour, movement and repetition.
Linda invited visitors to bind, wrap and loop every day, sensory materials like foil, paper and fabric, to create layered sculptures to be added to the installation as shapes overlap, change, and grow bigger. Visitors could try swinging, shaking or gently moving their sculpture. They could experiment by inviting someone to join them and see what happens when they move the structures together.
Make Studios
Make Studio encourages visitors to get creative with hands-on activities and events for families of all ages. Explore new ways to playfully explore art together.
Climate Dreams, 2021
28–29 October 2021
UNIQLO Tate Play invited visitors of all ages to explore how humans will live in the future and imagine a greener, fairer, wiser world. Based on a new programme from The House of Fairy Tales, The Great Imagining at The Tanks Studio at Tate Modern had fun, interactive activities, performances and workshops for you to enjoy over half term.
Make Studio: Transform, 2021
4 September – 14 November 2021
UNIQLO Tate Play invited visitors to drop in and dream big with our Make Studio: Transform. Visitors got creative and brought their ideas to life through clay – just like Auguste Rodin.
Visitors could create their own clay bouquet inspired by our giant still life plant display. They could take their piece home, or leave it on display to inspire others.
Make Studio: Envision, 2021–2022
20 November 2021 – 9 Feb 2022
With a mix of natural and reused materials, visitors used nature to create their own unique work of art. What will AI look like in years to come? It’s up to you! We wanted you to be inspired by the work of Anicka Yi who asks us what a ‘natural history of machines’ might look like.
Visitors took inspiration from the mystical floating forms in the Turbine Hall and used recycled materials to create something otherworldly and magical. Can you build something that is both animal and machine? We provided a mix of natural and man-made materials to help you do this. Anything you made was yours to take home, or left on display to inspire the creations that come next. Inspired by the magical Hyundai Commission: Anicka Yi, visitors re-used and re-cycled materials to create their own ideas for future AI drawing from nature.
Make Studio: Celebrate, 2022
Make Studio, 26 February – 15 May 2022
Holiday Make Studio, 28 May – 5 June 2022
Visitors were invited to explore the world of Surrealism and bring their dreams to life by making a magical montage inspired by something or someone special in your life. Maybe it’s the pet who never leaves your side, the pal you can’t be without or an exciting achievement worth shouting about!
Make Studio: Embellish, 2022
11 June – 17 July 2022
Using a mixture of cloth, paper and other materials, visitors could make a colourful creation that stood out from the crowd. And for those with younger members of the family, on Wednesdays a sensory play area was set up for under 5’s to explore fabrics and textures though dressing up and den making.
Painterly, 2022
22–30 October 2022
Taking inspiration from some of our wonderful abstract artworks by Agnes Marten, Cy Twombly and Huguette Caland, families were invited to come and get ‘painterly’ in the Clore Studio at Tate Modern. This meant unleashing their inner artist and creating artwork in fun and unusual ways – all while using a dab of paint.
©Tate Photography
Make Studio: Threads, 2022–2023
Make Studio: 5 November 2022 – 5 February 2023
Holiday Make Studio: 11 February – 19 February 2023
Taking inspiration from the vibrant collection works of fibre artists Cecilia Vicuña and Magdalena Abakanowicz, visitors experimented with weaving, big and small.
The whole family could join in; helping weave together their ideas through stitching, looping and colouring different textiles, which could be hung, draped, or wrapped and taken home. Visitors could even add their work to an ever-growing collaborative piece.
Photography: Eugenio Falcioni © Tate
Make Studio: Empower, 2023
Make Studio: 22 April – 24 May 2023
Holiday Make Studio: 27 May – 4 June 2023
Inspired by rule-bending artists from Tate’s collection – Richard Bell, Black Audio Film Collective to Siah Armajani - visitors made a giant activist banner, representing all the causes they cared about.
Visitors stamped, stomped and got inky using printmaking to make a colourful banner or poster.
What change would you like to see in the world? Visitors explored different ways of using images and text together to create an eye-catching message worth shouting about.
© Photography Dan Weill
Make Studio: Sketch, 2023
10 June – 19 July 2023
How can you draw what you see in fun and unusual ways? Visitors were encouraged to draw their own works of art, but it wasn’t just about putting pen to paper. Visitors had fun exploring all the ways there are to sketch their own artwork.
It was all about drawing the every day differently, using your imagination and, of course, easels (based on objects of all sizes, shapes and colour) with all the tools they needed.
© Dan Weill Photography
Make Studio: Shadow and Light, 2023
Make Studio: 2 September – 18 October 2023
Holiday Make Studio: 21 – 29 October 2023
Inspired by our A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography exhibition, visitors could create dream-like spiritual worlds and imagined futures using immersive light, glowing and translucent objects and mirrored surfaces.
Visitors could also experience the wonder of light drawing, using torches, lasers and flashlights to create their own unique art that lit up the walls of Tate.
© Tate (Eugenio Falcioni)
Make Studio: Rhythm, 2023–2024
Make Studio: 4 November 2023 – 7 February 2024
Holiday Make Studio: 10 – 18 February 2024
Inspired by materials and sounds in Tate's collection, visitors explored their own ways of creating and listening to the sounds of materials. They discovered the many ways you can make and listen to all kinds of unusual noises!
In Make Studio Rhythm, visitors had fun creating together or listening carefully and quietly to the sounds being made. What sounds can you make with found materials, voice and body? With materials, objects, recorders, microphones and speakers provided, families were invited to get loud or quiet down and make art to listen to.
Tate
Make Studio: Kinetic, 2024
Make Studio: 24 February 2024 – 17 July 2024
Holiday Make Studio: 25 May – 2 June 2024
Inspired by hanging, balancing, wobbling and moving artworks in the collection, Kinetic Make Studio invited visitors to balance, move and create.
Visitors could explore and play with form, space, colour and movement to create artwork that could swing or sway. They could make and attach their creations to an ever growing and ever-changing collaborative mobile.
Photography by Kathleen Arundell © Tate
Make Studio: The Joy of Not Knowing, 2024
Make Studio: 31 August 2024 – 23 October 2024
Holiday Make Studio: 26 October - Sunday 3 November
Visitors could let their imagination run wild with a variety of hands-on activities for the whole family, all using recycled materials sourced right from within our galleries. They were encouraged to imagine and explore magical futures by creating props and costumes made from sensory, re-purposed materials.
Tate Photography
Make Studio: The Joy of Feeling, 2024–2025
Make Studio: 9 November 2024 – 12 February 2025
Holiday Make Studio: 15–23 February 2025
Visitors could create a sensory sculpture using a range of tactile materials – taking inspiration from art in Tate’s collection, or letting their imagination run wild. Visitors were encouraged to touch, chat, and let your senses guide you as we discover how art can help us express our emotions.
Larina Annora Fernandes, Tate Photography
Make Studio: Joy of Togetherness, 2025
Make Studio: 1 March – 16 July 2025
Holiday Make Studio: 24 May – Sunday 1 June 2025
Inspired by The Shape of Words display, this hands-on, interactive space was all about getting creative and experimental. Visitors were encouraged to unleash their imaginations as they mixed and matched shapes, colours, and textures to craft your own visual language — one that tells stories, shares memories, and celebrates different cultures.
© Tate Photography
Make Studio: Home, 2025
Make Studio: 6 September – 22 October 2025
Holiday Make Studio: 25 October – 2 November 2025
Visitors were invited to step into our hands-on studio and discover their own idea of home through making, playing and connecting. Visitors could try making marks, patterns and shapes, or experiment with textures to reflect the places, people and moments that matter to them and their families. They could draw inspiration from where they have come from, from places they love, or from the things that make them feel at home.
© Tate Photography
Make Studio: Beauty, 2025–2026
Make Studio: 8 November 2025 – 11 February 2026
Holiday Make Studio: 14 February – 22 February 2026
Through experimenting, repeating, arranging and exploring, visitors were invited to uncover techniques that lead to surprising and beautiful outcomes. Along the way, there was space to question what’s seen as ‘childish’ in art, and to celebrate the value of process, intuition and exploration.
© Tate Photography
Holiday Make Studio: Pipe Dreams, 2026
23 May – 31 May 2026
Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall was transformed into a playscape of funnels, spheres, and tubes this half-term. Designed by artist India Harvey, visitors were encouraged to experiment with different shapes, textures and sounds to see what they can create.
Visitors could make an obstacle course for objects to roll down in unexpected twists and turns. Watch India’s short film ALL THE FEELINGS for ideas to keep playing and exploring objects at home.
Make Studio: Memory, 2026
28 February 2026 – 22 July 2026
Visitors were invited to explore memories through playing, chatting and creating. They could spend time with the stories, feelings and moments that shape who we are. By making marks, moving, and experimenting with different materials, visitors could discover new connections between what we remember and what we imagine.
Inspired by artists who work with memory and leaving traces, like Erwin Wurm and Richard Long, this was a space to play and leave your mark, even if only for a moment.
© Tate Photography
Make Studio: Create/Destroy, 2026
5 September – 21 October 2026
Visitors could explore the balance between creation and destruction. They were inspired to connect with materials and each other through creative play for all generations.
Visitors could take apart and rework everyday materials by breaking, ripping and rubbing out – and then find ways to piece them back together again. This Make Studio was inspired by artists who use found materials to make something new and unexpected, like Robert Rauschenberg and Dieter Roth.
© Tate Photography
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