London's Tate examines 21st century urban life
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters Life!) - Ten of the world's top cities provide the subject matter for an exhibition at London's Tate Modern museum this summer which examines the challenge of urban life in the 21st century.
"Global cities" comprises a collection of photographs, scaled-down models and videos exploring the reality of statistical information which predicts that seven out of every 10 people on the planet will live in a city by the year 2050.
Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo are explored in different sections of the exhibition, according to subject headings of size, speed, form, density and diversity.
A film entitled "Global Cities in a Changing World" by London-based film company Neutral introduces visitors to the exhibition with a combination of aerial photographs of cities with 3D models, while presenting revealing statistics, such as "One out of three city dwellers currently lives in a slum".
"The intention is to activate and appeal to the spectator" filmmaker Tapio Snellman told Reuters.
Computer generated camera angles emphasize the vastness of the cities presented, while a hip-hop soundtrack brings an urban feeling, Snellman said.
"It is a creative interpretation, not meant to be realistic." he said.
Photographs displayed in the exhibition include Luiz Arthur Leirao Vieira's "Favela Paraisopolis (swimming pools)", which depicts slum tenement roofs in Sao Paulo squeezed up against a luxury housing complex with pristine tennis courts and balconies, most which have individual pools.
"We are providing a snapshot of the current state of the cities, whilst trying to advocate specific, often small-scale solutions for daunting problems," the exhibition's consultant curator Sarah Ichioka said.
Such solutions include commissioned artist Fritz Haeg's "Edible Estates regional prototype garden #4, London UK" - a video documenting the creation of a public garden composed of edible plants in the gritty London borough of Southwark.
Other commissioned installations include Nigel Coates's "Mixtacity", a scaled-down model of London's Thames Gateway area using spools of thread, ceramic figurines, food and miniature replicas of the British capital's landmarks.
The exhibition, which ends August 27th and is free, was built on the success of an original installation which first appeared at the 2006 Venice Biennale.
