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Tulips at Victoria Embankment Garden
As we were walking back from our post-exhibition Indian afternoon tea at Cinnamon Bazaar, we passed through Charing Cross and spotted the gardens on the embankment below. I don’t think I’ve ever visited them before, but I was immediately drawn to the bright, densely packed tulip beds.
I’ve paid to attend tulip festivals in the past that weren’t nearly as impressive as this. There were so many varieties and such a beautiful mix of colours. It was a lovely, unexpected find.
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Máret Ánne Sara at the Tate Modern
After the Tracey Emin exhibition, we headed over to the Máret Ánne Sara installation in the Turbine Hall. We both agreed that this was a much more relaxing, less taxing experience.
We took the opportunity to sit on the reindeer skins and just chat for a while. It felt completely different from the previous exhibition (calm and quiet) and it wasn’t so busy that you were being jostled. It was a much-needed antidote.
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Tracey Emin: A second life at the Tate Modern
A friend and I visited the Tate Modern today to see the Tracey Emin exhibition. I think the best way to describe it is “challenging.” It was challenging in terms of the themes and the personal history behind the art, but also in the physical experience of the show itself.
There weren’t many information panels near the works. Instead, there was an audio guide. We discovered that if we played the audio, turned the volume down, and turned on the subtitles, we could read the commentary instead of wearing headphones. However, that meant we spent a lot of time staring at our phones rather than the art. It felt like an odd way to get the context we needed.
The guide itself explained the choice:
We’ve made this audio guide for you because this exhibition has fewer texts on the wall than many exhibitions you’ll have encountered before. And this is largely because Tracey’s own work is full of words.
That created its own set of hurdles. Reading Tracey’s handwriting on the blankets, the chair, and the various documents was difficult with the crowds. There were also “no-go” zones around some pieces. I lost count of the number of times a warning beep went off because someone leaned in too far, followed by a steward’s cry of “Keep away from the artwork!”
I noticed a man walking around with two primary school-aged children, which surprised me. Given the heavy themes of sex, abortion, and cancer, it definitely felt like an exhibition intended for an older audience.
I didn’t find it an easy visit and I won’t be going back, but I am glad I went.
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