Art and Language, Tate Britain

We are delighted to announce that Art and Language 2016 will be led by Henry Ward. 

Taking a playful approach the day will explore the language of education and the school classroom in the context of the gallery and critical visual thinking.

Undertaking a variety of exercises, discussions and practical activities introduced by artist and educator, Henry Ward, you will investigate ideas relating to translation and definition, unpicking language with language. Utilizing the Tate Britain displays and drawing on your classroom experiences you will collaboratively develop a dictionary of terms to reimagine the language of teaching and interrogate its meaning from the perspective of art.

Henry Ward

Henry Ward is an artist, writer and educationalist and is currently Head of Education at Freelands Foundation. Previously he was Head of Education at Southbank Centre, before which he was Deputy Head Teacher at Welling School, a Specialist Visual Arts School in south-east London. He founded the alTURNERtive Prize in 2002 and the journal “æ”, focusing on issues in art and education, in 2011. Henry has been a consultant for BBC Learning and the South London Gallery Teachers’ Forum. In 2013 Henry completed his PhD at Middlesex University. He continues to write and lecture on art education and is currently a trustee of AccessArt.

Art and Language

Taking its cue from the collection, the course explores the relationship between art and language in multiple and unexpected ways. You will consider the use of language and text in art and question how language shapes our encounter with art and the gallery.

Working with artists to explore the wide range of historic and contemporary artwork at Tate Britain, you will experiment with forms of presentation, making and interpretation to develop creative and critical thinking. The course offers you the space to reflect on your own and others’ learning through a shared dialogue around art.