Year 10 art students had a hugely successful trip to the Tate Modern and the Bankside Gallery. At the Tate, they explored works by Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso. The main highlight was a large-scale installation that students have been studying in class: Open Wound by South Korean artist Mire Lee. Mire’s powerful work addresses a wide range of themes.

Other highlights included Anthony McCall’s Solid Light, an engaging interactive experience where students could bend, break, and walk through corridors of solid light beams. Students also appreciated Bruce Conner’s Cross Roads, which depicted the “cataclysmic beauty” of the Bikini Atoll nuclear bomb tests. Nalini Malani’s In Search of Vanished Blood provided a stunning experience as students sat on the carpeted floor, mesmerized by a show of lights, shadows, and paintings—blending Indian folklore, Samuel Beckett’s verse, and American Sign Language. It was a true culture bomb!

But we didn’t stop there! We then visited the Bankside Gallery, a modest space showcasing artwork priced from £50 to £10,000. The goal of this visit was to experience the work of non-celebrity, everyday craftspersons and artists. Not everything is a multi-million-pound installation in the world’s largest galleries—sometimes it’s refreshing to appreciate a simple watercolour by a professional painter.

Next, we ventured to the OXO Tower Creative Building, where we observed hatmakers, jewellers, and potters at work, offering us a unique opportunity to watch artisans hone their crafts and display their products. The students were exceptionally behaved and engaged.