Tate Modern to quit Bankside and become a village museum

In response to criticism of the UK’s London-centric museum culture, officials from DCMS have today (1 April) announced that Tate Modern is to abandon its Bankside HQ with immediate effect and take a revolutionary step into the 21st century.

According to a DCMS spokesperson, the museum will cease to function from fixed premises, instead becoming a touring attraction that will travel to market towns and villages across the country. ‘We are delighted to announce a new chapter in Tate’s history,’ said Tate officials. ‘The age of the pop-up attraction brings challenges to museums in this country, and it is time we embraced them.’

Further details are to be released next week, but in the meantime a curatorial source tells Apollo that the museum’s exhibition programme is swiftly being adapted to suit the itinerant model. The popular Turbine Hall installation series will continue this year in church halls in coastal towns across Lincolnshire and East Anglia.

The church hall in Leverton, Lincs., is among the venues slated for future ‘Turbine Hall’ installations

While plans have yet to be announced for the former Tate Modern building, the Greater London Assembly and Transport for London have already indicated their interest in transforming the space into a hothouse to incubate the saplings that will later be planted on the garden bridge that is planned for the Thames nearby.