Hyundai to sponsor Tate Modern Turbine Hall

Hyundai is making it first move into the arts with a sponsorship of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall from 2015 as part of its long-term drive to ink partnerships that drive an ‘emotional’ connection with customers.

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Hyundai is to sponsor the annual collection in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall

The deal will see Hyundai fund a new series of annual installations in the Turbine Hall that will be branded the ‘Hyundai Commission”. The South Korean car firm has made an 11-year commitment to Tate Modern, the longest in the gallery’s history.

Hyundai says the partnership forms part of its commitment to innovation and it plans to support art “beyond the Turbine Hall” and into areas including South America, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia. It has already joined forces with Tate’s Asia Pacific Acquisitions Committee and is supporting the acquisition of nine works by South Korean artist Nam June Paik that will improve the museums Asian art collection.

Hyundai’s vice chairman, Euisun Chung, says: “At Hyundai Motor we understand that cars can provide much more than transportation. They can connect with people emotionally and it is this same feeling that connects people to great art. This is the nature of our partnership with Tate.”

This is Hyundai’s first sponsorship of a major arts organisation. Elsewhere, it is also one of the official sponsors of the World Cup and is looking for more tie-ups that can boost brand awareness and “emotionalise the brand”.

Unilever was the previous sponsor of the Turbine Hall, funding projects in the space for 12 years up until 2000. The Tate has been without a sponsor for the area since then and no work has been commissioned for the space this year because of planned building work to extend the gallery.

Other Tate sponsors including news organisation Bloomberg and the oil company BP.

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