courtesy of Instagram/@tateArt & Photography / NewsArt & Photography / NewsThe Tate Britain has gone appropriately apocalyptic this ChristmasThe London-based artist Anne Hardy has dressed the gallery in pagan-inspired disrepair for its winter commissionShareLink copied ✔️December 1, 2019December 1, 2019TextThom Waite This winter, the Tate Britain looks like it’s been through a lot – let’s be honest, who hasn’t as we near the end of 2019? But it’s not just a sign of the times: courtesy of artist Anne Hardy, the London gallery has taken a turn towards the apocalyptic for its winter commission. The front of the gallery is hung with ragged banners and strings of lights that look as if they’ve seen better days (all just in time for Christmas). On the steps, meanwhile, there’s more scattered fabric and sculpted objects that look like the remains of a long-fallen-down temple. An accompanying, 21-minute soundscape includes sounds like water and rolling thunder. It’s all a bit apocalyptic, and very pagan. In fact, talking to AnOther Magazine about the artwork – The Depth of Darkness, The Return of the Light – Hardy explains that the title: “is a description of the winter solstice… that (she) found in a guide about how to celebrate pagan festivals.” “I wanted to work with the Tate façade but change its mood,” the RCA graduate adds. “To treat is as a found object and to think about how it might be if it wasn’t the Tate, or had been overcome by natural events.” Get down to the Tate Britain to see the winter commission in situ (if it’s not already become a reality). Or, if you can’t make it, watch Sasha Velour, Munroe Bergdorf & Leo Kalyan take a tour of the gallery and respond to their favourite artworks instead. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MOREMeet the curator and artists behind Resurgence: Craft ReimaginedArt shows to leave the house for in April 2026OnMeet the creatives turning up the heat in Lagos with Burna Boy and On8 new photo books for springtime5 of the most boundary-pushing artists at Art Basel Hong KongThe most loved photo stories of March 2026Whispers Against My Neck: These photos document the chaos of youthPodunk: Nadia Lee Cohen and Scarlett Carlos Clarke’s enigmatic new bookThis photo series depicts youth culture in summer along the Danube5 emerging photographers to watch from Circulation(s) in ParisLiz Johnson Artur is inviting you into her studioBarbara Kruger: ‘Never be shocked. Shock is a failure of imagination’Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy