As part of our Elizabethan programme, all Year Nine students have the opportunity to engage in stimulating and enriching cultural experiences, which we believe is particularly important for leaders of the future. So, this week, every student in Year Nine visited the Tate Modern gallery on the South Bank in London.

We travelled from school using bus and train, arriving at London Bridge and then walking along the South Bank. On the way, students passed the Golden Hind and the Millennium Bridge, looking across the river at the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Groups ate their packed lunches in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern, beneath the current installation Behind the Red Moon by the Ghanian artist El Anatsui. El Anatsui’s installations explore colonialism and materialism, using the caps of fizzy drinks bottles to create rippling sheets of metal. Dr Clayden commented that it’s not every day you get to eat your lunch while gazing at large-scale modern art! Students enjoyed walking around and beneath the artworks whilst uncovering more about El Anatsui’s practice as an artist.

Following lunch, students embarked on a gallery tour, in search of the artwork which they would present on to their group. They passed internationally and historically significant artworks such as IKB 79 by Yves Klein, source of the “Yves Klein Blue”, Matisse’s huge collage The Snail, and an installation of the work of the Guerrilla Girls.

Below, you can read two students’ reflections on the trip. Thank you Dr Clayden for co-ordinating the trip and to all the members of staff who volunteered to accompany the students.

The Tate Modern trip was very exciting for all of my classmates and me. When we got to the Tate Modern and started to look at all of the "art" on display in the gallery, we were all very taken aback, because the art was nothing like anything any of us had ever seen before, and it allowed us to visualise art in a new way. From signed urinals to a simple circle drawn on a blank page—the Tate Modern had it all. I think from the experience I learned to look at art in a completely different way and now I see it in a more abstract way. In the Tate Modern, there was also a huge tower made of old radios, which was very interesting to see, and my favourite artwork by far was the urinal signed by Duchamp. This is because he took a dirty object that nobody would associate art with and turned it into something meaningful. Overall, our experience to the Tate Modern was excellent and we all enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Gauransh, Year Nine

I really enjoyed my visit to the Tate Modern on Monday. We got to experience many interesting pieces of art from a urinal with writing on it by Marcel Duchamp to images exploring feminism by the Guerrilla Girls. I liked many pieces of due to the various themes depicted, such as war and abstraction, but the one that stood out to me the most was a piece called "Nation" by Deana Lawson from 2018. The picture contained a set of George Washington's dentures which were made with the teeth of the enslaved African Americans. The image is starkly contrasted and echoed by one of the African American artists in the model wearing golden teeth in the larger picture. I liked this as it explored the themes of slavery and black oppression during the 1700s.

Tharakan, Year Nine