- Venue
- Tate Modern
- Location
There’s nothing like a good fact to grab someone’s attention. Here’s one; ‘for the first time in history, 50% of the world’s population are living in cities!’ Here’s another; ‘cities produce 75% of the world’s carbon emissions!’ And another; ‘one third of all city dwellers live in slums!’
These are just some of the facts stencilled onto the walls of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall as part of an exhibition called ‘Global Cities’, which looks at the changing states of ten international cities; Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.
This is fundamentally an architecture exhibit compiled from data collected for the 2006 Venice Biennale, but we’re in the Tate, so there’s also some ‘proper’ art thrown in for good measure, including a beautiful video piece by Eva Koch and a few, “look how pretty I am”, Andreas Gursky prints; not the most inspired curatorial decision, but he’s a crowd pleaser. There’s also specially commissioned work by Fritz Haeg, Nigel Coates, Nils Norman, Richard Wentworth, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid.
On the surface ‘Global Cities’ looks like any other architecture exhibit. It’s a labyrinth of temporary walls covered with statistics disguised as pictures and graphs with lines that go up, and then down, and then up again – there’s even a purpose built scaffolding walkway attempting to be more than just a purpose built scaffolding walkway. However, once you start to wander through the different themed zones the show comes alive and you realise that it’s bursting at the seams with fascinating titbits and satisfyingly factual information.
Hang on! Are you nodding off? Look, here’s another fact for you; ‘only 3% of the pigeons living in London have actually ever bothered to fly!’
The most intriguing exhibit comes in the form of four contoured wooden models representing the population densities of Mexico City, Cairo, London and Dubai. These scale models rise up from the gallery floor like colossal stalagmites which have taken millennia to form. They’re stunningly beautiful and illustrate their point exquisitely well.
Although this exhibition might feel more at home in the Science Museum and it certainly isn’t one of those sublime, awe inspiring, Turbine Hall filling exhibits (in fact, it doesn’t seem to really ‘use’ the space at all) you’ll still find yourself seduced by all the facts and figures. I can’t mention too many of them, as this show is all about information and then there’d be no point in you actually going. You’ll just have to see for yourself.
By the way, I made-up that fact about the pigeons.
