Tate Modern Lates, photography Sophie Shaw
Tate Modern Lates x Swatch are proud to present a unique opportunity for emerging creatives to develop and deliver Swatch Social. This public space at Tate Modern Lates will foster collaboration, creative exchange and social connection.
Tate Modern Lates, supported by Swatch, is an after-hours event taking place on the last Friday of every month across the gallery and is free and open to all. The programme is a mix of music, workshops, talks, film and more. The social side of these events is as important as the displays and programme. We are looking for a forward-thinking creative to develop a dedicated social space. This could be anything from an installation to a creative workshop, a listening experience, or any idea you think will best activate the space. Applicants are encouraged to read the ‘Context’ section below to understand how this social space might be activated.
We are offering two opportunities to develop Swatch Social across three events either in the summer or autumn season. Swatch Social will take place in the Tanks Studio located on Level 0 of the Blavatnik Building.
Tanks Studio, photography Eugenio Falcioni
If you are selected it doesn’t end there, Swatch will be awarding an additional opportunity for you to take up an Artist Residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. This will be supported and managed by Swatch, separately from Tate.
Get involved
This is an open call and we welcome ideas from creatives of all disciplines. If you have a vision to activate this space, we want to hear from you.
- The selected creative will deliver their idea during three Tate Modern Late events in 2024, these dates are shown under the ‘Dates and deadlines’ section below
- We have two opportunities available and Swatch Social will either be delivered over three events in the summer or autumn season
- You can propose one idea to be repeated at three events, or different ideas for each event
- Swatch Social will take place in our Tanks Studio space. This is located on Level 0 of the Blavatnik Building and is 105m²
- The fee (as set out below) covers five days of development and your ideas should be manageable within the budget
- A resource budget of £500 is also available for each Swatch Social per event
- Set-up time will be limited to the day of the event only and therefore the design should not rely on complex builds
- We have limited space for storage so please consider this in your idea(s)
Friday 12 April: Open Call open for applications
Wednesday 17 April: Site visit open day – the Tanks Studio will be open between 11.00–13.00 if you would like to visit the space prior to submitting an application
Thursday 25 April: Site visit open day – the Tanks Studio will be open between 15.00–17.00
Monday 29 April: Open Call application deadline
Week commencing 13 May: Interviews to present ideas at Tate Modern
Week commencing 20 May: Final selection will be made with two opportunities available, one for summer and one for autumn season
Summer Events: Summer selected creative will deliver Swatch Social at events on Friday 28 June, Friday 26 July and Friday 30 August 2024
Autumn Events: Autumn selected creative will deliver Swatch Social at events on Friday 27 September, Friday 25 October and Friday 29 November 2024
This open call invites creatives to develop a social space in the heart of Tate Modern Lates to foster new conversations and connections. We also ask you take into consideration the set-up and production within this space which should not rely on complex builds.
We're excited by the possibilities of a dedicated social-first space and looking for innovative ideas that activate and enable real connections between visitors. Swatch Social should be a place where visitors can connect more deeply to enable anything from finding their next creative collaborator to exchanging ideas, be inspired by conversation and fresh perspectives, or make new friends.
Examples of previous activations that have fostered creative connection include Zezi Ifore and Nobody's Business social space which enabled visitors to connect through a blend of music and networking games, and Adapt's Climate Club which used a speed date style format to encourage open conversations about the climate emergency.
The selected creative should be able to commit to the following:
- One set of the event dates listed above, please specify whether you can attend the summer or autumn events, or both
- One planning meeting each month to discuss the upcoming event, three meetings in total with each meeting lasting a minimum of one hour
- Share finalised proposals three weeks prior to each event
- Deliver proposed and agreed work to a high standard during each event
Each selected creative will be supported with:
- Production support throughout planning and delivery, this includes everything from sourcing materials to risk assessing
- Curatorial support with the development and implementation of your ideas
- Logistical support with set-up and pack down of events, overseen by Tate Modern Lates producers
- Logistical equipment and furniture within an agreed budget
- Audio-visual equipment within an agreed budget
- Audio-visual technician support
- Access to in-house resources as agreed with Tate Modern Lates producers
- Event day catering and green room access
- Event and Security staffing including event assistants and onsite artist liaison support during set-up, delivery and pack down of events
- Photographic documentation of each event
- Inclusion in Tate Modern Lates monthly marketing
- A resource budget of £500 per event
Each selected creative will receive a total fee £2,240 (inclusive of VAT or relevant taxes)
This allocation is based on:
- £280 day fee
- Three days for event day delivery
- Five days for development of ideas
Each person shortlisted for an interview will be offered £200 to support the time taken to develop ideas in preparation.
Please note the Artist Residency at Swatch Art Peace Hotel is separately managed by Swatch.
- You must be over 18
- You must be able to work in the UK
- Open to applicants from any art form and creative discipline
- Although you do not need to be a London resident, you will need to be able to travel to Tate Modern for each event, travel costs for this are not covered by Tate
The Artist Residency at Swatch Art Peace Hotel will be separately and externally managed by Swatch and the selected creatives will be put in touch with a contact at Swatch to accept and organise this opportunity.
Send the following in one email to TateModernLates@tate.org.uk by 10.00 on Monday 29 April:
- Images or links to your existing work or portfolio. This could be one of the following – a website, a social media profile, a CV or up to five images
- Tell us about yourself and your creative practice in 250 words or less
- What would you like to do for Swatch Social? Tell us about your idea(s) in 250 words or less
- How do you imagine people engaging and connecting in this space? Tell us in 250 words or less
- Let us know if you could deliver your idea either for the summer season (June, July, August), the autumn season (September, October, November), or either seasons of events
In partnership with
