Yayoi Kusama ‘The Obliteration Room’ set to open in London

Words by
Lee Cassanell

10th May 2022

A colourful Summer activity is coming to the Tate Modern this Summer. 

Yayoi Kusama’s The obliteration room opens on 23 July as part of UNIQLO Tate Play, Tate Modern’s free programme of art-inspired activities for families. 

The installation consists of a completely white space fully furnished with entirely white furniture. Visitors are handed a sticker sheet of colourful dots with which to leave their mark on this stark interior, which slowly becomes transformed into a riot of colour. 

Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama came to international attention in 1960s New York for a wide-ranging creative practice that has encompassed installation, painting, sculpture, fashion design and writing. The artist has been the subject of exhibitions around the world, including a major travelling retrospective initiated by Tate Modern in 2012.

Since the 1970s Kusama has lived in Tokyo, where she continues to work prolifically and to international acclaim.

UNIQLO Tate Play offers families new ways to play together and get creative, with over 147,000 people having taken part so far. This coming half term, free drop-in workshops will run from 28 May until 5 June inviting families to create surrealist collages inspired by the current exhibition ‘Surrealism Beyond Borders’.

 

UNIQLO Tate Play: The obliteration room will be at Tate Modern from 23 July until 29 August 2022.