Join us for a Late at Tate Britain on Valentine's Day weekend celebrating all things love and nostalgia in response to The 80s: Photographing Britain exhibition. Plan a gallery date night and enjoy music, performances, workshops and more. Bring your lovers, your friends, even your situationships!
This program has been specially curated in response to The 80s: Photographing Britain.
Music
Reprezent Radio
North Duveens
18.00-19.10 Dan Alani
19.10-20.20 Ailbhe Máiréad
20.20-21.30 Usher Lavelle
Live Visuals by Barney Kass
Lower Rotunda
18.00-21.30
Dance the night away to 80s love songs with DJ sets from Reprezent Radio!
Dan Alani
Dan Alani is a London-based DJ and broadcaster, renowned across the capital’s underground as an authority on dance and alternative music. On the decks, his mix of house, electronic and jazz have seen him become a sought after DJ, performing to crowds at clubs and festivals across the UK. On-air, his shows on Brixton’s Reprezent Radio and BBC Radio 1 are a staple for curious listeners and new artists alike, with Dan being named “the best guide to new music in Britain” by Time Out London.
ailbhe máiréad
Reach for the eyeliner as ailbhe máiréad serves 80s heat from across the sonic spectrum to make you dance from the haçienda to the blitz club and beyond. expect groove-infused delights laced in synth, neon, smoke machines and shoulder pads. featuring originals and reworks from new wave, goth, hip-hop, reggae, disco, pop, dance, new romantic and industrial sounds.
Usher Lavelle
From small basement clubs (The Castle, Whitechapel) to Brixton Academy (Main support for Berlioz), ZONE 68 head honcho Usher Lavelle has held down his DIY-celebrating and eclectic late-night radio show on London’s Reprezent Radio since 2016. Just like the show itself, his Tate set will guide you through a researched yet chaotic blend of genres, with sounds for you to discover, re-discover, and at the very least... dance to.
Workshops
Wax Carving: A Celebration of Love and Rebellion*
Clore Studio
18.20-19.20, 19.30-20.30 and 20.40-21.40
*each time slot requires a free ticket that can be collected at the Manton ticket desk at 17.00
Step into a creative journey where nostalgia meets artistry! This workshop is all about embracing the bold spirit of the 1980s while exploring the tactile beauty of wax as a medium. Inspired by neon hearts, graffiti art, and rebellious love songs, this workshop invites you to create sculptures that reflect the power of love in a time of resistance.
Open to all skill levels, this is a space for creativity, discovery, and unapologetic expression. Come with an open mind and leave with a one-of-a-kind creation that captures the essence of 80s romance—love that resists, persists, and shines.
Stelios Karantonas
Stelios Karantonas is a Greek jeweller with over 15 years of experience. Based in London, his handcrafted pieces blend sacred geometry with cosmic inspiration. Showcased internationally, his designs are created ethically and entirely in his central London atelier, where he has been teaching jewellery making for 10 years, guiding students to explore their creativity through traditional techniques.
THE THING IS, I LOVE YOU: Writing Romance For The Big Screen*
Story Space
18.30-19.15 and 20.00-20.45
*each time slot requires a free ticket that can be collected at the Manton ticket desk at 17.00
From meet-cutes to love declarations, and break-ups to make-ups, romance in onscreen storytelling allows artists and audiences to explore and experience the full spectrum of human emotion. This workshop aims to demystify the first crucial step towards all great films: the script. Using a scene from an iconic 80s romcom, this workshop will provide an introduction to the basics of screenwriting and how to format a screenplay. You will then use selected photos from The 80s exhibition as inspiration to write your own romance scene.
Laurie Kirwan-Ashman
Laurie Kirwan-Ashman (they/them) is a writer-director with a queer, femgaze, hopepunk approach to storytelling. They were chosen for the BBC Comedy Writersroom, BFI NETWORK @ LFF, and the BFI Flare x BAFTA Mentorship. They have written two projects for Audible, and have several feature films and TV projects in development.
@lauriek_a
Love and Resistance Life Drawing
Room 8
18.30-20.00
Inspired by the current 80s: Photographing Britain exhibition at Tate Britain, 2B Or Not 2B Collective invite you to a life drawing workshop responding to the themes of "Love and Resistance". Come and explore different drawing techniques within a fun, lively and quick paced session of observing and drawing the human form. All levels are welcome.
Miss Grace's Lane
Room 31
18.00-21.30
Guests are invited to join the artist in creating all parts of a plant using discarded synthetic materials, collectively making a large ‘floral’ arrangement that explores more sustainable ways to show love at valentines. Miss Grace's Lane is a durational installation piece by Robert George Sanders, generating a micro-landscape amongst paintings of a similar subject by Turner.
This workshop is open to all, and guests can choose their level of involvement.
This piece is named after a series of photographs by Keith Arnatt in the current exhibition The 80s: Photographing Britain.
Robert George Sanders
An installation and performance artist, Robert George Sanders' practice is rooted in collage: collecting overlooked materials and bringing them together on the body and in set. With references to his ancestral rural paganism, structures both organic and recycled synthetic become talismans for rituals in photo and film.
@robertgeorgesanders
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Weaving
Room 10
18.00-21.30
Learn and create your own small tapestry section using up-cycled fabrics like denim, neon textiles, and bold prints inspired by 80s style. This can be taken home or added to a larger collective piece — connecting souls and creativity as a growing installation throughout the evening. Designs can be personalised with meaningful words, letters, or poetic reflections, inspired by the themes of love and resistance.
Inspired by the DIY ethos, vibrant culture, and collaborative spirit of the 80s, this workshop explores creativity through fabric weaving whilst integrating elements of poetry, love, and personalisation.
Maryam Sandjari Hashemi
Maryam Sandjari Hashemi is a London-based multidisciplinary artist and mentor. For over two decades, she has exhibited internationally and led community art workshops with the Barbican, British Library, V&A, and more. Specializing in upcycling textiles, she has contributed to collective projects and appeared on BBC2’s Making Art and Channel 5’s Bargain Brits.
@marhashem
Love as Foundation
Play Studio
18.00-21.30
Jasmine & Decarla ask the audience What would a world built on love for your community or culture look like? In this creative communal workshop we will use tenderness, collective action and love as a compass to construct and dream of new worlds. Join us to create art, write poetry and engage in conversation.
Jasmine & Decarla
Jasmine & Decarla is an ongoing body of work that curates interactive knowledge exchange to cultivate communal imagining. Our interdisciplinary research combines storytelling, archival exploration and spatial curation to create a multitude of outputs.
An integral aspect of our practice is working with people who hold different intersections of identity. From artist installations to experiential workshops, we have worked with art institutions such as Tate Galleries, Rijksmuseum, Rally Festival and Reference Point (180 the Strand).
SCREAM
Room 14
19.00-19.30 and 20.30-21.00
We’ve all been at the point where we can feel a scream building up inside of ourselves for one reason or another, but there are very few places that we can actually scream, especially in London. This guided screaming workshop provides a space for you to let out everything that we have to scream about!
This workshop is a space of exploration; a very basic introduction to techniques that take years for musicians to master, a celebration of human expression, and disruption of social norms.
Inspired by the themes of love and resistance.
Anna Dakin and Summer Oxley
Anna Dakin and Summer Oxley met whilst studying Fine Art: Painting at Wimbledon College of Art. They connected through shared experiences of growing up in the North of England, a love of art, alternative music, and subculture, which have been perfectly combined in their recent screaming collaborations.
Anna Dakin grew up on a farm in Northumberland. Her creative practice, shaped by studying painting at Wimbledon College of Art, and Information Experience Design at the Royal College of Art involves exploring the wilderness with The Artist Expedition Society, UK, and Art Tours of Australia in Alice Springs.
Summer Oxley, a multi-disciplinary artist proudly from County Durham, studied Fine Art: Painting at Wimbledon College of Art. Summer’s practice is built on a foundation of story-telling, activism, and promoting representation through art, remaining rooted in kitschy cuteness and tongue-in-cheek silliness.
Film
‘Me Vs You’ by Gregor Petrikovič and Adam Cole
Room 23
18.00-22.00
Me vs. You explores queer intimacy in a world monitored by AI technologies. In this video installation, footage from a wrestling match is fed through a generative AI pipeline to highlight the system's inability to interpret human interactions. The work contrasts the cold precision of AI networks with the blurred boundaries of human conflict and connection. By embracing the system’s inaccuracies, the artists poetically express the tension and tenderness at the heart of our relationships.
2024
Video, 2 projections, colour, soundscape by Asher Levitas
Gregor Petrikovič
Gregor Petrikovič is a Slovak-British artist working with film and movement. His work explores human connection and alienation in the era of digital disconnect, often drawing inspiration from his background in philosophy, photography, and movement. He completed an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art as a Burberry Design Scholar. His films have been exhibited internationally, including IDFA, Sónar Barcelona, the Athens Digital Arts Festival, and The Swiss Archive of the Performing Arts. He recently completed a residency at the ISCP in New York and is developing new work through Film London’s FLAMIN Fellowship.
@ gregor_petrikovic
Adam Cole
Adam Cole delves into the complexities of intimacy and identity in the age of AI, crafting immersive works that explore desire in the shadow of artificial representation. He integrates advanced AI-technologies, film, and installation to challenge the normative fantasies embedded in AI networks, seeking more diverse, poetic, and sensual alternatives. Cole’s work has been exhibited worldwide at prominent galleries, film festivals, and media arts conferences, including the SXSW Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Sonar+D Barcelona, Le Lieu Unique, and SIGGRAPH Arts. He is currently based at the Creative Computing Institute, University of the Arts London, as a lecturer and doctoral candidate.
@ adamcole.studio
Explore
Yours, Typewriter Poetry
Room 4
18.00-21.45
Speak with poets Luke Erasmus and Freya Lyngnes and commission your very own poem, unique and personal to you. Choose any theme, or any combination of themes: visions, dreams, obsessions, preoccupations, or love!
All typed on typewriters and presented to you to take home.
Quick Sketch, Magnetic Connections*
Djanogoly Cafe
19.00-20.00 and 20.20-21.20
*each time slot requires a free ticket that can be collected at the Manton ticket desk at 17.00
Looking for someone to traipse around the gallery with? Find your gallery companion by decompressing after Valentines Day with our back-to-back meets! There will be two rounds of meet ups and time to mingle at the end. Enjoy the warm exchange of energies and meaningful talks, even as friends! Expect some silly drawings and some fun prompts to help elicit deep conversations (and maybe enjoy a little tipple while you mingle!).
Electric Avenue DIY Photoshoot
South Duveens
18.00-22.00
Bring a little retro fun into your love story, with our 80s themed DIY photoshoot that will transport you straight into a world where love was electric.
Linda Coiradas
Linda Coiradas’ practice is based on creative and nature-based wellbeing and mindfulness. Her programmes motivate presentness through activity and the natural beauty the world has to offer. She is also a Tate Mental Health First Aider, and is interested in the connections between interior design and our feeling of wellness.
Chill Out Space
Millbank Studio
18.00-22.00
Do you need a room to take a break from the many activations happening in the building, and the rest of the world? We invite you to reset your senses and recharge in this quiet, access-friendly and wellness-inspired chill out space.
Tate Britain's step-free entrance is on Atterbury Street. It has automatic sliding doors and there is a ramp down to the entrance with central handrails.
There is a lift between the Lower and Main floors. Alternatively you can take the stairs.
- Accessible and standard toilets are located on the Lower floor.
- A Changing Places toilet is not currently available.
- Ear defenders can be borrowed from the ticket desk on the Lower floor.
To help plan your visit to Tate Britain, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information about what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.
Download Tate Britain map
For more information before your visit:
- Email hello@tate.org.uk
- Call [+44 (0)20 7887 8888](tel:+44 (0)20 7887 8888) (daily 10.00–17.00)
Check all Tate Britain accessibility information
This event is free and does not require a ticket, however, some activations may require a free ticket.
The following activations require a free ticket:
Wax Carving: A Celebration of Love and Rebellion
THE THING IS, I LOVE YOU: Writing Romance For The Big Screen
Quick Sketch, Magnetic Connections
Free tickets will be available to collect from the Manton ticket desk from 17.00, on a first come first serve basis.
