Families at the heart of Tate Liverpool’s programme at Mann Island

A new reading corner, making spaces, material storage and display areas, all designed by Liverpool-based Studio MUTT, will create a space to make families feel at home.

Tate Liverpool is opening at Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) North, Mann Island from 27 October with a programme designed for families at the heart of their plans.

The core family activity for Tate Liverpool at RIBA North will be inspired by the much-loved children’s book about Mildred, Tate Modern’s beloved former resident cat. Art Games: Mildred the Gallery Cat is a free activity book created especially for younger visitors to enjoy at the Tate Liverpool + RIBA North space. 

The activity book includes lots of exciting games and challenges to keep little ones engaged during their visit and beyond such spot the difference, a chance to recreate an incredible portrait by Pablo Picasso using dot-to-dot and complete the drawings of Mildred the Cat by adding different faces. The learning space within RIBA North has also been re-designed by Studio MUTT and will include large-scale illustrations of Mildred.  

During the Christmas holidays there will be festive family workshops to create your own masterpiece, with everything visitors need to do some festive, art-inspired crafting. The workshops will run from 27 December to 7 January, ensuring there’s plenty to engage little ones with during the break from school. 

Alongside this, the venue will also have a shop and café run by Tate, providing a complete visitor experience. The café will serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea, while the shop offers a range of beautiful gifts, books, homeware and more. 

The first partnership exhibition for Tate Liverpool + RIBA North will show works from the RIBA collection, one of the largest and most wide-ranging architectural collections in the world.

Opening on 27 October, Long Life, Low Energy: Designing for a Circular Economy considers how the design, construction, maintenance, and demolition of buildings is vital in the journey towards global net zero targets.

As Tate Liverpool undergoes a transformation to its Victorian warehouse home, this timely exhibition reveals the way architects and designers are innovating to reuse and repurpose anything from small materials to whole buildings and how we might look to the technologies of the future to navigate the climate emergency today. 

From 27 October visitors will also be able to watch specially commissioned films about the six nominees for the Stirling Prize 2023.

The RIBA Stirling Prize is the highest accolade in architecture and this year’s shortlisted projects feature six remarkable buildings offer thoughtful, creative responses to today’s complex challenges. Each of the videos reveals an insight into the best new buildings in the UK this year.

To mark the start of the partnership, RIBA are also offering guided tours from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 October, exploring modern and historic buildings along the Liverpool waterfront.

For more info on Tate Liverpool and RIBA click HERE.