A Global Exhibition

15th August 2007..

 

It was a glorious Sunday afternoon when I unexpectedly found myself wandering around the southern banks of the river Thames. It never fails to be the perfect place for a relaxing stroll to watch the people, see the sights and the experience what this amazing part of London has to offer. As usual, I found myself drawn to the Tate Modern for my overdue dose of art.

Their latest exhibition Global Cities looks at the changing faces of ten dynamic international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, S�o Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo. It explores each city by comparing and contrasting their growth, size, density, diversity and form. It was an overload of factual information which was impossible to find uninteresting.

The exhibition in my opinion was really well designed and offers more than enough to maintain your interest for at least an hour or so. There were films, videos and photographs by many well known artists and architects communicating their own interpretations of urban conditions in all ten cities.

I would advise not going on a beautiful Sunday afternoon however – it was a bit of a squeeze at times.

Oh, and if you’re a fan of Nigel Coates, Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher, Fritz Haeg, OMA*AMO/Rem Koolhaas, Nils Norman, and Richard Wentworth…you can see their latest commissions that “explore the local context through issues such as sustainability, public space and social inclusion.”