Photo: Tate's commissioning of Net Art is one of the ways in which the organisation has successfully harnessed the power of the web. © Tate.
Tate Online has been named the UK’s Best Factual Website at this year’s BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards.
One of the UK’s most influential arts organisations, Tate considers its website to be its fifth gallery and uses it as a vital tool in its mission to increase public awareness, understanding and appreciation of art.
Now in their sixth year, the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards recognise and reward talent across a broad spectrum of the new media industry.
Beating off stiff competition from both the BBC and Channel 4, the site topped a category that recognises the best use of the Internet to deliver factual information.
Photo: the Tate archive was digitised and launched online in September last year. © Tate.
Tate Online was launched in 1998 and in 2001 joined forces with BT in a sponsorship deal that has given rise to a number of ground-breaking digitising and Net Art projects.
"None of this would have been possible without BT’s support – financial, technical and, just as importantly, emotional," said Will Gompertz, Tate Director of Communications.
"BT’s continued enthusiasm for and engagement with Tate Online is greatly appreciated by all at Tate."
Financial and technical support provided by BT sponsorship has enabled Tate Online to establish a dedicated digital programmes team to develop content and make the site more accessible.
Photo: there are Tates in Liverpool, St Ives and two in London and thanks to the web, one in space. © Tate.
Since 2001 the number of people using the site has tripled to in excess of two million a year.
Users can search through 65,000 images of some of the world’s most famous works of art from the Tate Collection. But, more than that, the site has a programme of work all of its own.
From Net Art commissions and archive displays to webcasts, e-learning modules and the next Tate gallery, Tate in Space, the site makes the most of the possibilities made available by Internet technology.
"To win a BAFTA Interactive Award is a prestigious accolade for Tate Online and BT and it is a great reflection of the commitment and creativity from the Tate and BT teams who are actively involved in making this partnership an outstanding success," added Paul Leonard, Head of Sponsorship at BT.
Photo: the Tate archive provides online access to thousands of objects, photographs and artworks. © Tate.
"We are of course delighted to have won the Best Online Factual award as it demonstrates that in the process of fulfilling our aim to make art accessible to all, BT and Tate Online have developed the site to be a powerful arts educational vehicle."
Tate Online was also shortlisted in the Best Interactive Arts category for the artist Susan Collins’ Tate in Space initiative, created for the Net Art programme of specially-commissioned works.
The BAFTA judge's think it's a winner, but why not make your own mind up. Click here to visit Tate Online.
