Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
Tate Britain Exhibition

Isaac Julien What Freedom is to Me

26 April – 20 August 2023

Free for Members

Become a Member
A black and white photograph of a man wearing a tuxedo in the snow

Isaac Julien What Freedom is to me - Homage 2022 © Isaac Julien. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

The first major UK exhibition by one of today's most compelling artists and filmmakers

Celebrated for his compelling lyrical films and his video art installations, Isaac Julien is one of the leading artists working in film and video today.

This ambitious solo exhibition reveals the scope of Julien’s pioneering work in film and installation from the early 1980s through to the present day. The exhibition highlights Julien's critical thinking and the way his work breaks down barriers between different artistic disciplines, drawing from film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and sculpture by utilising the themes of desire, history and culture.

The exhibition will present works from early films to large-scale, multi-screen installations which investigate the movement of peoples across different continents, times and spaces. Isaac Julien’s work across forty years will be presented for the first time in the UK.

Film Duration

The films inside the exhibition have a combined length of 3hours 39min 33sec.

  1. Once Again… (Statues Never Die) 2022 – 32min 32sec
  2. Western Union: Small Boats 2007 – 18min 22sec
  3. Ten Thousand Waves 2010 – 49min 51sec
  4. Looking For Langston 1989 – 46min 29 sec
  5. Lessons Of The Hour 2019 – 28min 46 sec
  6. Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement 2019 – 39min 18sec
  7. Vagabondia 2000 – 13min 17sec

Our exhibition guide explores the exhibition room by room.

Need a bigger font size of the exhibition guide? Download the large print version [PDF 522Kb]

Tate Britain

Millbank
London SW1P 4RG
Plan your visit

Dates

26 April – 20 August 2023

  • Members enjoy free entry – no need to book, just turn up with your card.
  • Open until 22.00 for Late at Tate Britain

In partnership with

Lockton logo

Supported by

With additional support from

Isaac Julien Exhibition Supporters Circle:

Cockayne – Grants for the Arts

The London Community Foundation

Victoria Miro

Tate Americas Foundation

Tate International Council

Tate Patrons

Pushing video installation into new territory

The Art Newspaper

It’s too much, too poignant and beautiful, to take in with just one viewing

Style Weekly

Isaac has an ability to seamlessly blend fractured narratives into poetic masterpieces

Ocula

Julien’s work is more than cinematic; as the viewer, you become engulfed

Apollo

Related events

Left Right
  • A still from 'lessons of the hour' by Isaac Julian. A woman of colour sits in a chair in a blue dress against a fake backdrop of tress and blue sky. She stares at a footrest opposite her.
    Private view PAST EVENT

    Members Hours: Isaac Julien

    Visit the exhibition before the gallery opens to the public

    Tate Britain
    12 Aug 2023, 13 Aug 2023, 19 Aug 2023, 20 Aug 2023

We Recommend

Left Right
  • Isaac Julien

    Isaac Julien: 'I'm interested in poetry'

    Meet the award winning filmmaker and installation artist through three key works

  • Exploring the Black Atlantic

    In this four-part mini-series, writer and curator Ekow Eshun examines the rich and boundless ways in which artists have engaged with this concept

  • Film still from Isaac Julien’s Territories 1984

    Five Artworks Which Explore Caribbean-British Experience

    Jessica Wilson

    From rallies to reggae, carnival to canerow braids, discover pieces which chart Caribbean-British heritage

  • Five Tips for Watching Video in a Gallery

    Read some tips to help you get the most out of the experience

Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved