Our commitment to race equality

Developments over the last six months include:

• Since its inception in summer 2020, 70% of Tate’s Race Equality Taskforce’s initial recommendations have been actioned, with progress being made across remaining areas. The Taskforce has recently entered into long-term, cross-sector dialogue with peer institutions, in order to learn from varying approaches to race equality, initially meeting with the British Library and the V&A.
• Tate recently announced that celebrated British artist Keith Piper will create a new work to be shown alongside and in dialogue with the Rex Whistler mural at Tate Britain. Piper is renowned for his artistic responses to specific historical relationships and geographical sites, after rising to prominence in the 1980s as a founder member of the BLK Art Group. His unique voice will bring a new perspective to the room, juxtaposing past and present in an ongoing conversation. This approach was developed through a series of discussions which invited perspectives from inside and outside Tate, including artists, art historians, cultural advisors, civic representatives and young creative practitioners.
• Recent acquisitions by Tate reflect an ongoing drive to hold and show work by increasingly diverse artists, across a range of mediums, including photography by Larry Achiampong and Sunil Gupta; paintings by Frank Bowling and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye; sculptures by Donald Locke and Sung Tieu; film and video works by Sonia Boyce and Buhlebezwe Siwani; and installations by Sammy Baloji and Grada Kilomba. Works by Frieze Artist Award 2022 winner Abbas Zahedi, and indigenous Australian bark painter John Mawurndjul, entered the collection for the first time.
• In November, Tate launched the Black Atlantic – a project consisting of a series of short films presented by curator and writer Ekow Eshun, and an online course – which examined how contemporary artists are exploring ideas around the Black Atlantic in their work. The themes covered in the film series were explored in more depth in the course, led by Adjoa Armah alongside a host of academic speakers.
• Following extensive research into Tate’s visitor demographics, key recommendations for attracting a more diverse audience that is representative of the towns and cities we serve have been shared across the organisation. The process involved detailed analysis of attendees to both paid-for and free programming across all galleries, to examine what achieves meaningful change in our audiences.
• Tate has recruited 25 new Guides with lived experience to deliver African Heritage and LGBTQIA+ Tours, to increase the diversity of our programming both in terms of the team who deliver tours, and the content itself. This has enabled us to continue to reach new audiences.  
• The proportion of visitors to Tate Modern who identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnic increased to 23% between July and September. The increase coincided with Tate Modern’s summer Uniqlo Tate Play programme, aimed at families and young people from the local area, which is successfully drawing in an increasingly broad range of audiences from different backgrounds.

Since January 2022, Tate Directors have been working on a post-pandemic business strategy, with the diversity of our audience, our people and our programme at its heart. Renewed objectives and actions supporting organisational change will be shared later this year.

In the meantime, developments over the past 6 months include:

• Tate’s Dignity & Respect Policy, created a number of years ago to foster a positive and inclusive working environment, has been updated and ratified by the Audit Committee. It sets out our clear expectations in relation to acceptable conduct at work and possible actions for where this is breached, both in relation to race and all protected characteristics, in line with employment legislation.
• A review of our union-approved anti-racism messaging across all sites has taken place, along with its positioning, ensuring that our zero-tolerance message is clearly communicated to all visitors.
• A number of holistic support programmes have been created in order to equip Tate staff in dealing with challenges that arise in day to day working life. These include a roster of mental health first aiders, a wellbeing hub, and ‘Confident Manager’ training, which ensures that anyone in a managerial position understands how to deal with hostile or inappropriate behaviour.
• In order to make the process of acquisitions more transparent and widely communicated across Tate, the Director of Collection, British Art, and the Director of Collection, International Art, have published a guide to Tate’s Acquisitions Process, internally. In addition to this, each Tate site has re-published the processes and procedures relating to how programmes are put together.
• Following our announcement in 2021 that we would be recruiting 50 apprentices in the next three years, aimed at making careers in the arts more inclusive and accessible for all, we are happy to say that 13 are in place, with another 37 due to start by the end of 2024. In addition to this, at Tate Liverpool, 12 apprentices have embarked on, or will be embarking on, the government’s ‘Kickstart’ apprenticeship scheme, which offers 6-month trainee placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit.
• Tate Collective, Tate’s membership programme for 16-25 year olds, has gone from strength to strength, with close to 132,000 members at the end of the last financial year, and 43,558 exhibition tickets sold. We are pleased that the total percentage of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic members has increased from 20% two years ago, to 23%. The picture is even stronger within London, where membership has moved from 24% to 31% since 2019.
• Tate has recently acquired a number of works from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. Current highlights include work by Sammy Baloji from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leonardo Drew from the USA, and Wael Shawky from Egypt, all of which is being shown at Tate Modern for the first time since joining the collection. Hew Locke’s Armada, an immersive large-scale installation made up of a flotilla of model boats and rafts, has been on display at Tate Liverpool, as the centrepiece of a free collection display – Port and Migrations – examining the city’s relationship to migration and international exchange. This is the first time Armada has shown at Tate, following its acquisition in 2019.
• In May 2021, the Race Equality Taskforce recommended that actions taken as a result of race-related complaints from visitors and staff at Tate sites should be tracked and reported. This system is now in operation with a quarterly report and annual summary shared with the Director of People and the Head of EDI. The reports outline what actions were taken by the implicated departments, and will be reviewed and collated, with the data used to identify further action as needed.

Tate’s Race Equality Taskforce (RET) continues to accelerate our progress towards being an anti-racist organisation, with a focus on generating recommendations that enable structural change. Meeting frequently since September 2020, their work builds upon that initiated by colleagues in Tate’s BAME Staff Network, among others. In April 2021 an Action Plan covering Tate’s people, public and programmes was agreed with Directors and signed off by Trustees, with progress reviewed regularly. This plan is not exhaustive; rather it is the continuation of a long-term process of sustained change, with actions reconsidered and reformulated as the organisation progresses. All Tate departments are continuing to advance local and individual level actions they have identified in order to further the goals and objectives set out in the Action Plan.

Developments over the past six months include:

• Tate’s Autumn 2021 programme is perhaps one of the most diverse in the institution’s history, featuring major exhibitions and collection displays that deal directly with race and cultural heritage. Tate Modern is currently showing the largest ever solo exhibition of work by Lubaina Himid, while visitors to Tate Britain can view the landmark show Life Between Islands: Caribbean British Art 1950s–Now, exploring the extraordinary breadth of Caribbean-British art over four generations. Displays including Sixty Years: The Unfinished Conversation at Tate Britain, which explores the evolving nature of diasporic identity through art, A Year in Art: Australia 1992 at Tate Modern, which brings together works responding to debates around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights in Australia, and Whose Tradition? at Tate Liverpool, which rethinks inspiration between different cultures, also present a more diverse range of works from Tate’s collection.
• Tate Britain has seven new acquisitions featured in Life Between Islands, reflecting the museum’s ongoing commitment to strengthening the representation of Caribbean-British artists and themes in its national collection. This includes Talking Music 1963 and Self-portrait 1979 by Paul Dash, which are the first works by the Barbadian-born artist to join a major public collection. They are joined by three newly-acquired works by Guyanese-born artists: Donald Locke’s Plantation K-140 1976 and Dageraad From the Air 1976–8, and Denis Williams’ Painting in Six Related Rhythms 1955.
• The RET is supporting strategic consultancy The Unmistakables in the research and writing of a ‘Guide to Allyship’ for Tate colleagues. Created in collaboration with staff from across the organisation, it’s aim is to help create safer spaces for colleagues of colour and shape positive practice throughout the organisation. As part of this work, workshops on allyship were offered to colleagues from all departments.
• Following a key recommendation outlined in the RET Action Plan, a new Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion was appointed in November 2021. This role further builds on work already underway in supporting Tate’s aims to drive equality and representation in our workforce and audiences and is responsible for developing an overarching strategy for Diversity and Inclusion at Tate.
• In July 2021, Tate announced the launch of a new apprenticeship programme aimed at making careers in the arts more inclusive and accessible for all. Over the next three years, Tate’s ambition is to recruit 50 paid apprenticeships. This fully funded apprenticeship programme forms part of Tate’s commitment to increasing the diversity of our workforce, to better reflect the diversity of the audience we serve. Current apprenticeships are in place across Tate’s Library & Archives, Curatorial, Conservation, Digital, Marketing, Development and Director’s Office teams. Further Kickstart internships are also in place at Tate Liverpool, as part of a Government-funded scheme offering 6-month trainee placements for 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit, who are at risk of long-term unemployment.
• Mandatory Diversity & Inclusion training in place across the organisation now includes a new course equipping colleagues with the tools to navigate unconscious bias and microaggressions in the workplace, helping everyone identify how they can contribute to making Tate a more inclusive place to work, volunteer at, and visit.
• Updated Visitor Behaviour Policies have been rolled out across front of house teams, including additional training on support available. Quarterly reports now detail the issues and incidents recorded that relate to race and the resulting actions, which are to be shared quarterly and annually with the Director of People and the Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Over the past year the pandemic has affected everyone in different ways, including our colleagues, partners, artists and audiences, and has had a disproportionate impact on certain communities. Tate’s Race Equality Taskforce (RET) has worked over this period to accelerate our progress towards being an anti-racist organisation, with an immediate focus on generating recommendations that enable structural change. Meeting frequently since September 2020, their work builds upon that initiated by colleagues in Tate’s BAME Staff Network, among others. An initial Action Plan covering Tate’s people, public and programme has now been agreed with Directors and signed off by Trustees, and progress will be reviewed regularly. This plan is not exhaustive; rather it is the continuation of a long-term process of sustained change, with actions reconsidered and reformulated as the organisation progresses. An overview of the initial recommendations is outlined below.

Together with the work of the RET, all Tate departments have been encouraged to identify local and individual level actions that will further the goals and objectives set out in the Action Plan. A Race Equality Forum planned for late summer 2021 will present work around race equality and highlight the work of critical friends who are furthering inclusivity. The RET is also working on a Guide to Allyship for Tate colleagues, to help create safer spaces for colleagues of colour and shape positive practice throughout the organisation, which will be shared with the wider arts sector.

People

• Create a new senior Diversity & Inclusion role in the HR team and review Tate’s management training and performance review process to equip colleagues with the sensitivity, skills and confidence required to handle incidents related to race.
• Establish a Guardians programme for colleagues to provide practical and emotional support for those who have faced racism, and develop new guidance and training detailing how to report racist incidents.
• Ensure that race-related incidents are tracked and shared, including quarterly and annual ‘lessons learnt’ processes.
• Better define and express Tate’s commitment to zero-tolerance on racism in our Dignity and Respect policy, staff induction pack and visitor communications.
• Update the application process for senior roles to assess awareness and understanding of race equality in the workplace, and ensure that the Executive Group are kept informed of the overall proportion of BAME candidates applying for roles, starting at Tate and leaving Tate.
• Take forward the renewed commitment from Trustees to engage in further anti-racism training.

Public

• Produce a paper outlining recommendations from schools and teachers to help de-mystify the galleries for those visiting for the first time.
• Develop key principles for long-term community engagement, building on recent projects and embedding best practices.
• Review existing marketing activity and audience research in order to identify issues impacting the enjoyment and engagement of specific BAME communities, developing proposals to better serve these audiences.
• Develop new processes to track and report on any visitor complaints related to race.

Programme

• Improve internal transparency around the decision-making processes for acquisitions and programming, ensuring race equality is better considered in these processes.
• Explore and test how consultation processes could help amplify the voices of underrepresented audiences in programming decisions.
• Share learnings internally relating to the use of language, especially in relation to describing art and art history, and how this can apply to each team’s area of work.
• Implement schemes such as Kickstart to improve routes in to working at Tate.
• Update the performance review process to encourage and enable colleagues to take on new projects and programmes which further race equality.

• Tate’s Race Equality Taskforce has now been established, comprising staff from across the organisation and service providers. It includes a member of Tate's Executive Group and makes recommendations to this Executive Group with additional support from two Trustee co-chairs. They have begun meeting regularly and working on an action plan, including commissioning a guide to ally-ship to help shape positive practice in our sector.
• Tate’s latest Workforce Diversity Profile for 2019/2020 has been published, reporting that 17.2% of our workforce identify as Black, Asian and/or minority ethnic. This has increased slightly at all levels, most notably in Bands 1 and 2 (representing heads of department and senior managers) which have risen by 4.9% and 5.9% respectively. We will continue to work on our recruitment and retention policies to ensure this can progress further.
• A roadmap for diversifying recruitment has been completed, which has led to a new commitment to ensure diverse interview panels and a new recruitment and selection training scheme. Other new training and development programmes include mandatory inclusion training for new starters, Active Bystander training (an industry recognised programme to equip people to tackle racism and bullying), new diversity and inclusion training for volunteers and managers, race discussion seminars led by Business in the Community, and a development programme for those underrepresented in Tate’s workforce.
• Tate has signed up to the Race at Work charter and in line with this we have appointed executive sponsors to both our Black, Asian and/or minority ethnic Staff Network and Race Equality Taskforce, published ethnicity data to chart our progress, and reaffirmed our commitment to zero tolerance of bullying and harassment.
• Tate’s Black, Asian and/or minority ethnic Staff Network hosted emergency meetings in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, offering a PoC only space to provide wellbeing support for its members.
• Tate Britain's Rex Whistler restaurant mural, which contains racist imagery, will enter the next phase of consultation once the covid restrictions are lifted and the artwork can be viewed and discussed in person. The restaurant remains closed.
• As part of the restructure of Tate Enterprises Ltd two new roles were created for Diversity and Inclusivity Retail Producers. An Equality Impact Assessment was also undertaken, which ensured that staff at the company who identify as Black, Asian and/or minority ethnic were not disproportionately affected by the restructure.
• Tate’s current programme includes exhibitions and commissions that directly explore race and cultural heritage, including Zanele Muholi at Tate Modern and the learning programme around this, and Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s Winter Commission at Tate Britain.
• Our Learning team along with a network of partners have published an independent research report entitled What Next?, commissioned in late 2019, which aims to help us better understand how we can support routes in for under-represented young people at Tate and across the sector.
• A range of online events and content was launched to mark Black History Month and UK Black Pride this autumn, including a social media campaign devised by colleagues of colour across Tate to help amplify awareness beyond the gallery walls.

In response to the tragic events of the past few weeks and the powerful anti-racism protests across the UK and around the world, we wanted to reaffirm Tate’s commitment to combating racism. We stand in solidarity with all those who are peacefully protesting and we hear the demands for change from our own visitors, supporters, artists, colleagues, partners, and the wider community. But making a statement isn’t enough. To address structural racism and the inequalities underpinning society, we have a responsibility to act.

Our role at Tate is to share art in all its complexity and diversity. In recent years we have made progress in better representing artists of colour in our collection and our programmes, but that work must go much further. We know, too, that not everyone has equal access to art and its benefits. We’re committed to changing this through our work, and to challenging ourselves to dismantle the structures within our own organisation which perpetuate that inequality.

The founding of our gallery and the building of its collection are intimately connected to Britain’s colonial past, and we know there are uncomfortable images, ideas and histories in the past 500 years of art which need to be acknowledged and explored. We also recognise the connection between our commitment to address the climate emergency and actions to combat social inequalities. This includes the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and class in the experience of inequality.

These are not new aims for Tate. We have a stated objective to become a more inclusive institution that reflects the world we live in now. But progress has not been fast or significant enough, so we are taking a number of actions in response. These include:

• Creating a properly resourced internal taskforce this month to accelerate our progress toward being an anti-racist organisation.
• Developing an action plan in dialogue with colleagues, which will be published on our website this summer, with progress reports shared publicly at 6-month intervals.
• Redoubling our commitments to diversifying our volunteers and our workforce, especially at the highest levels, and supporting ethnic minority career progression. This will include publishing updated statistics to measure progress.
• Reaffirming that we have zero tolerance of harassment and bullying, and to any form of racist abuse or collusion with racist abuse. Also introducing mandatory anti-racism training alongside existing unconscious-bias and structural racism training.
• Commissioning a guide to ally-ship from recognised BAME leader(s) in this field for those who work at Tate to help us shape positive practice in our sector.
• Continuing our work to diversify our collection and exhibitions, as well as finding new opportunities to amplify the voices and creativity of artists of colour.

Some of these actions will have immediate effects, while others will take longer to accomplish, so we must hold ourselves accountable for maintaining this focus in the long term. In setting out these commitments, we also want to acknowledge that we do not have all the answers and have not always got things right in the past, and we will continue to educate ourselves and listen to others.

Further resources

With thanks to our BAME Staff Network and Race Equality Taskforce for their recommendations, we wanted to share some causes and organisations below whose work and expertise we can all learn from. This is a brief selection and not meant as a complete list, but a starting point ...

Black Cultural Archives

• A national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.

Black Lives Matter

• A global organisation whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities.

National Museum of African American History & Culture

• Museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture.

Racial Equality Foundation

• Promoting race equality in social support and public services.

Resourcing Racial Justice

• A coalition of people of colour innovators, change makers, activists, artists and social leaders dedicated to social change.

Responses to Tate's Collection by our BAME Network

• Tate's Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network is made up of a diverse range of voices of Tate staff.

Shades of Noir

• An independent program created by Aisha Richards that supports curriculum design, pedagogies of social justice through representation, cultural currency and accessible knowledge.

Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust

• Working with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to inspire and enable them to succeed in the career of their choice.