Located on London’s Bankside, Tate Modern stands as one of the world’s leading destinations for contemporary and modern art. Housed in the imposing Bankside Power Station, this iconic museum dazzles millions of visitors every year with cutting-edge exhibitions, monumental installations, and a uniquely vibrant atmosphere. The 2025 season is extraordinary, with headline solo shows, ambitious group exhibitions, and immersive experiences that span the entire spectrum of art since 1900. Whether an art aficionado or a first-time visitor, this mega-guide delivers everything needed for a rewarding visit: what to see, when to go, how to book, and how to make the most of every moment amid London’s artistic heart.
Discovering Tate Modern: Architecture, Galleries, and Spirit
Tate Modern’s very architecture sets the tone for a visit. Once an industrial power station designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, its transformation into a cathedral of art is marked by unrivaled scale and dramatic industrial chic. Upon entry, the Turbine Hall greets visitors with its soaring five-story height. More than a lobby, it’s an engine for creative energy, hosting site-specific installations that have become the stuff of art legend.
Branching from the Turbine Hall are two main gallery buildings: The Natalie Bell Building and the Blavatnik Building. The Natalie Bell Building focuses on developments in art from 1900 to the present, with thematic displays such as ‘Artist and Society’, ‘In The Studio’, ‘Media Networks’, and ‘Materials and Objects’. The Blavatnik Building, opened in 2016, expands the gallery’s capacity for contemporary art and houses The Tanks—three repurposed oil tanks now showcasing live multimedia, performance, and film. At the top, the Tate Modern Viewing Platform offers breathtaking 360-degree views across London—a must-visit spot for inspiration and panoramas.
Must-See 2025 Exhibitions
This year, Tate Modern’s programme is bursting with world-class exhibitions. Here are the unmissable highlights:
Theatre Picasso
A centerpiece of the 2025 calendar, Theatre Picasso explores the celebrated painter’s lifelong obsession with drama, movement, and transformation. Moving beyond Picasso as a static image-maker, the show presents over 45 works that reflect his deep engagement with performance and the tension between popular culture and art’s avant-garde frontiers. Visitors step into immersive, theatrical installations that invite playful participation and pose profound questions about identity and representation.
Picasso’s fascination with the stage is revealed in paintings, sculptures, sketches, and archival materials, set against a backdrop of contemporary performance interactions. The exhibition runs through April 2026, cementing Picasso’s enduring relevance and his role as a creative force forever challenging and redefining artistic possibilities.
The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh – Walk the House
Running until October 26, 2025, Do Ho Suh’s landmark show is an intensely personal journey through themes of home, migration, and belonging. Famed for “fabric architecture,” Suh constructs life-sized, translucent replicas of the homes he has inhabited in Seoul, New York, and London.
Visitors literally walk through these poetic installations, experiencing space as memory and memory as space. Alongside signature works are videos, drawings, and a new piece titled Nests (2024), which links domestic thresholds across continents and decades. Do Ho Suh’s art blurs the boundaries between museum and home, offering moving reflections on how place shapes identity.
Emily Kam Kngwarray
Until January 11, 2026, Europe witnesses its first major solo exhibition for Emily Kam Kngwarray, an Indigenous Anmatyerr artist from Australia. Kam Kngwarray’s monumental canvases, batiks, and textiles are visual outpourings of her connection to Country, ecology, and Aboriginal spirituality.
The exhibition offers over 70 works that trace Kam Kngwarray’s unique iconography—motifs drawn from plants, animals, and landscape, translated into radiant colors and expressive forms. Interactive soundscapes evoke the land’s spirit, making the show a full-body experience. It is essential viewing for those interested in Indigenous knowledge, feminist narratives, and global perspectives on landscape art.
Leigh Bowery
From February 27 through September 2, Tate Modern hosts a blockbuster retrospective of Leigh Bowery—club icon, radical performer, and muse to leading fashion designers like Alexander McQueen. Bowery’s career epitomises transformation, flamboyance, and the power of performance. Costumes, photographs, and video documentation create an electrifying journey through the aesthetic and cultural rebellion that Bowery ignited, inspiring artists and designers worldwide.
Nigerian Modernism
Opening October 8 and running into spring 2026, Nigerian Modernism is the first UK museum exhibition devoted entirely to the artists who shaped Nigeria’s modern identity—from colonial rule through independence and into the present. With 250 works by 50 artists, visitors trace artistic encounters between Africa and Europe, from painting and sculpture to groundbreaking ceramics, poetry, and textiles.
The exhibition showcases the Zaria Art Society, Mbari Club, and milestones by icons like Ben Enwonwu and El Anatsui. It marks out Nigerian artists as global innovators, highlighting the power and vibrancy of modern African art.
The Turbine Hall and The Tanks: Experiencing Monumental Art
No visit is complete without exploring Tate Modern’s architectural heart. The Turbine Hall hosts internationally renowned commissions, turning the industrial shell into a living canvas, where giants like Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson have created installations that change how visitors interact with space and with each other.
The Tanks—three subterranean chambers—offer the world’s first permanent museum spaces dedicated to live, time-based, and performance art. Immersive, experimental, and often unclassifiable, these galleries show how Tate Modern continues to push boundaries, inviting visitors into art that is alive, participatory, and urgent.
Practicalities: Timed Entry, Booking, and Planning Ahead
With blockbuster exhibitions drawing global attention, Tate Modern has implemented timed-entry tickets for its headline shows: Theatre Picasso, The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh, Emily Kam Kngwarray, and Leigh Bowery. Each show grants entry in a fifteen-minute slot—a system designed for comfort, clarity, and crowd management.
Advance online booking is strongly recommended, especially for weekends and holidays. Members enjoy unlimited free entry and may also access exclusive morning viewings. Most other galleries, Turbine Hall commissions, and smaller displays are free and unticketed, allowing impromptu visits and serendipitous discoveries.
When to Visit: Insider Strategy for the Best Experience
For a relaxed, inspiring visit, timing is everything:
- Weekday mornings (from 10am till noon) and late afternoons (after 4pm) are reliably quiet.
- Fridays and Saturdays now feature Tate Modern Lates, with museum hours extended to 9pm—ideal for peaceful evening exploration.
- Peak periods are weekends (midday to 4pm) and school holidays—book ahead to avoid disappointment.
- Spring and early autumn offer the best combination of mild weather and manageable crowds.
Those seeking contemplative viewing or photograph-friendly galleries should opt for earlier or later time slots. Tate Members, students, and visitors with special access needs will find accessibility well catered for, with detailed guidance available online or at the door.
The Permanent Collection: Icons and Discoveries
Tate Modern’s permanent holdings are among the richest in the world. The gallery’s thematic layout encourages slow wandering and surprise:
- Artist and Society: Works reflect diverse global perspectives on politics, agency, and community.
- In The Studio: Explore the evolution of creative processes from early modernism to contemporary experiment.
- Media Networks: Trace the influence of media, advertising, and networks across a changing world.
- Materials and Objects: Artworks challenge the expected materials and transform everyday objects into something radical.
Major works by Picasso, Duchamp, Warhol, Matisse, and Kusama provide a historical backbone, while contemporary giants make each visit a chance to encounter something new.
Family-Friendly and Participatory Experiences
Tate Modern excels at making art accessible. The UNIQLO Tate Play programme runs during holidays, offering children and families the chance to create, explore, and collaborate. Interactive installations pop up throughout the galleries, providing playful entry points for everyone.
Audio guides and digital tours offer further interpretation for all ages and interests, including themed paths for families, students, or specialists.
Food, Shopping, and Essentials
Several cafes and restaurants cater for every taste, with options for riverside outdoor seating or panoramic dining overlooking the Thames. The Tate Modern shop is a treat for art lovers, offering exclusive exhibition catalogues, artist prints, jewellery, and thoughtful souvenirs.
Facilities for families, accessible toilets, cloakrooms, and clear guides for wheelchair and buggy users ensure a smooth and accessible experience.
Beyond the Art: Tate Modern, Bankside, and London
Stepping out of Tate Modern, visitors find themselves in lively Bankside, steps from Shakespeare’s Globe, the Millennium Bridge, and Borough Market’s gourmet delights. Combining art with London’s cultural and culinary attractions makes for a perfect day; guided walking tours help weave the museum into a deeper exploration of the city.
Top Tips for a Seamless Visit
- Book tickets for timed exhibitions early and secure preferred time slots, especially for popular shows.
- Consult the official website for exhibition calendar updates—new commissions and immersive shows are added regularly.
- Charge devices and bring headphones for optimal use of digital guides and audio content.
- Start with the Turbine Hall and work up to the Blavatnik Building’s viewing platform for a complete journey.
- For solo visitors, bring a notebook—each room offers inspiration for reflection or sketching.
- Combine Michael Clark’s dance performances, Bowery’s fashion shockwaves, Kngwarray’s luminous landscapes, and Suh’s poetic architectures into a varied itinerary.
Conclusion: Tate Modern as Experience
In 2025, Tate Modern is more than an art museum—it is an invitation to participate in the most dynamic ideas shaping our time. Its exhibitions—Picasso, Do Ho Suh, Emily Kam Kngwarray, Leigh Bowery, Nigerian Modernism—draw together cutting-edge creativity, diverse voices, and global perspectives. Monumental installations in the Turbine Hall, experimental performance in The Tanks, and provocations in the permanent galleries beckon visitors to go far deeper than simple sightseeing.
Whether through hands-on play, contemplative wandering, or immersive participation, Tate Modern unveils new ways to experience art and being in the world. With planning—and this guide—every visitor can discover personal meaning, global stories, and unforgettable memories among the galleries’ vast halls and bold imaginations. This is Tate Modern in 2025: a destination where the future of art is made and remade with every visit.
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