(Liverpool, UK)
Starting this Saturday, April 27th, those who visit the top floor gallery of Tate Liverpool will be able to lie down and relax in a giant hammock, composed of several individual hammocks stitched together. Far from a new decorative take on the room, the piece – humorously titled the “Social Network” – is one of the two showcased by Brazilian collective Opavivará! in “Utupya”, their first solo exhibition in the UK.
Be careful, though. There’s a catch when it comes to the installation, just like all Opavivará’s works do: they require active and somehow collaborative visitors for them to work out properly. Such is the case of the giant hammock. Unstable in its core, it encourages visitors to negotiate and talk as they get in to and move around within it. So does “Pajé Curumin”, the second piece featured in the exhibition. A free communal tea station, the work encourage visitors to relax while sharing experiences in the gallery space.
After “Art Gym”, a sort of art workshop conceived by Tate Collective Liverpool in partnership with Assemble in 2016, and “O.K. – The musical”, by Christopher Kline, which turned Tate into a community theatre in 2017, this is the third exhibition of Tate’s “We Have Your Art Gallery” series, which seeks to challenge conventional behaviours in public and gallery spaces.
The tea station “Pajé Curumin” is showcased in a group exhibition in Lille, France, in 2015 / Opavivará!
“Utupya”, solo show by Opavivará!
On view from April 27th through June 24th
Tate Liverpool
Albert Dock – Liverpool Waterfront
Working hours: mon – sun, 10 am to 5:50 pm
T: +44 (0)15 1702 7400
visiting.liverpool@tate.org.uk