Tate and BMW announce major new international partnership: BMW Tate Live

Each performance will be announced in advance taking into consideration different time zones. The performances will take place at Tate Modern in London and broadcast live on the internet without an audience present in real time. The online audience will watch the event live online, and have the opportunity to email chat with other viewers (or via social media channels) at the same time, or straight afterwards. This innovative format will offer audiences internationally an opportunity to experience new work first-hand. Each performance will then be archived and available to view on the BMW Tate Live page, accumulating into a series through the year.

Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern said: "I am delighted that we will partner with BMW on this important new initiative. Not only is Tates programme and Collection becoming increasingly international, so is our audience, and we need to work to find new ways to present our programme to them on new channels. The development of technology has transformed peoples approach to art. Audiences today expect more interaction, participation and personalisation than ever before. BMW Tate Live will answer this need. BMW Tate Live will bring live art performance directly to people on the web, wherever they are in the world."

Dr. Uwe Ellinghaus, Director Brand Steering, Brand Management BMW and Marketing Services said: Tate and BMW is a match made in heaven. In 2011 the BMW Group is celebrating 40 years of international cultural commitment. By announcing an extensive cooperation with Tate Modern, BMW gives a clear signal: We will continue to engage in manifold cultural projects worldwide. The transnational program that has been brought into being with this trendsetting institution proves once more that for the BMW Group intercultural dialogue is not only desirable, but provides the basic concept for an internationally successful company. I am personally excited that we are intensifying this dialogue in London with BMW Tate Live and thus promoting it throughout the world.

Catherine Wood, Curator, Contemporary Art and Performance, Tate said: The way in which the artists will use the format and the extent to which they will use the reciprocal capacities of technology in BMW Tate Live: Performance Rooms will be an exciting part of the experimental nature of the series. We are keen to see how artists might experiment with the intimacy and theatricality of this space while reflecting upon how virtual communications have become an integral part of our lives today. This project will hopefully extend our idea of what an exhibition space is and can be.

Jérôme Bel (b 1964, Paris) is a choreographer and dancer who lives and works in Paris. Bels work explores the relationship between choreography and popular culture, alongside that of the dancer and spectator, often using humour as a device to break the usual formality of a theatre setting. Key early works include nom donné par l'auteur (1994) Jérôme Bel (1995), Shirtology (1997) and The Last Performance (1998). His work The show must go on (2001) featured over twenty performers who interpreted the title of the pop song, chosen by a DJ, through their actions (this won a Bessie Award in New York in 2005). More recently he has begun a series of works that look at the history of choreography through the autobiography of an individual dancer. For example in 2004 when Bel was invited to produce a piece for the Paris Opera ballet he created Véronique Doisneau 2004, a theatrical documentary on the work of the dancer of the same name. More recently with Cédric Andrieux, he traced a history of contemporary choreography through dancer Andrieuxs experiences.

BMW Tate Live is curated by Catherine Wood, Curator, Contemporary Art and Performance, Tate, and Kathy Noble, Curator of Interdisciplinary Projects, Tate. Further details of the BMW Tate Live programme will be announced next year.