Tate’s chair of trustees has floated offering naming rights to the Turbine Hall for upwards of £50m according to a report in the UK newspaper, The Telegraph. Asked how much it would cost someone to attach their name to the famous space at London’s Tate Modern, Roland Rudd said: “A minimum of £50m.” He suggested that such a deal could feed into the institution’s new endowment fund (Tate Future Fund), which was launched last week. According to the Tate’s director Maria Balshaw the aim for the fund, which is inspired by a model pioneered by US museums, is to reach £150m by 2030.
Asked to confirm the £50m figure, a Tate spokesperson says: “That comment was speaking in hypothetical terms. Tate launched its Future Fund last week and we are just at the start of the fundraising campaign.” The Tate declined to say whether the Turbine Hall is part of the institution’s portfolio of possible sponsorships or confirm an actual naming fee.
Rudd told The Telegraph: “The whole thing about the Future Fund is to enable us to ensure we have one of the greatest collections of British modern and contemporary art, and some of the greatest curators, because we are in a global marketplace. We have over 50 curators now and we want to add to that number.”
“If people want to endow curators or endow directors, all of this is available. Indeed, if someone would like to name the Turbine Hall, this could also be a big thing.” The Tate declined to comment on whether any potential Turbine Hall sponsorship fee will go towards the endowment fund.
Balshaw said that Tate has worked on the new funding project for the past three years. “We have been quietly scoping out whether it would be possible and talking to trustees about embracing this as a strategy because it is a significant shift—an addition to the portfolio of funding that we have.”