Tate Modern Celebrates 25th Birthday with Multisensory Performance by María Magdalena Campos-Pons & Kamaal Malak with wardrobe by OMER ASIM
This past weekend, Tate Modern marked its 25th anniversary, culminating in a captivating multi-sensory performance titled “I Am Soil. My Tears Are Water”, created by renowned interdisciplinary artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, alongside her partner in art and life, musician and former member of the band Arrested Development, Kamaal Malak. Campos-Pons had received an invitation from TATE to mark the quarter of a century milestone.Campos-Pons and Malak invited Omer Asim and Maya Antoun of OMER ASIM to create the wardrobe for their performance.
Held in the iconic Tanks space, this immersive experience celebrated the Tate Modern’s milestone while inviting audiences to reflect on themes of healing, resilience, and transformation through music, movement, ritual, and visual art.
The performance, a vibrant tapestry of diaspora, spirituality, and ancestral connection, explored “radical love” as a force for regeneration. Campos-Pons, embodying the metaphor of soil nourished by a “Mother’s River of Tears,” wove together ritualistic elements with dancers, live music, and symbolic objects like plants, flowers, and fruits. Malak’s evocative soundscape, described as a “journey through different sounds, textures, and frequencies,” guided audiences through an emotional arc of sorrow and hope. The bespoke clothing, designed by OMER ASIM, complemented the performance’s dialogue with the Tanks’ architecture, emphasising form, texture, and cultural resonance.
“This performance is a message of optimism in a complex world,” Campos-Pons shared. “We start with tears, but we end with possibility and the affirmation of the human spirit.” The event concluded with a symbolic gesture: a small cake placed on a floor map of the Tanks, celebrating Tate Modern’s 25 years of art and sociability, alongside gifts of shells and candies distributed to the audience.
Malak, whose music underscored the performance, expressed inspiration from the collaborative process. “Everyone came together in a humble, open way. This space, this moment at Tate Modern – it’s historic. I’m already dreaming up new music,” he said. The performance also featured video projections and live drawing, engaging with the history of painting and the architectural context of Tate Modern. A companion installation by Campos-Pons, acquired by Tate from Documenta 14 (2017) and on view until October 24, 2025, further highlighted her contribution to the anniversary celebrations, selected as one of 25 works by 25 artists.
This piece coalesces 40 years of performance practice by Campos-Pons and Malak, now joined together as KaMag productions.
Omer Asim and Maya Antoun’s designs brought a silent yet sensual aesthetic to the performance, their architectural and cultural sensibilities aligning with the event’s themes of care and connection. The collaboration exemplified Tate Modern’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and artistic innovation.
As Campos-Pons addressed the younger audience members, calling them “the future,” she emphasised art’s vitality as a living process. This performance not only honoured Tate Modern’s legacy but also looked forward, inviting all to participate in a shared journey of reflection and renewal.
About the Artists
María Magdalena Campos-Pons is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores diaspora, spirituality, and memory. Her exhibitions include MoMA, the Whitney, and the Venice Biennale. She is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair Professor of Fine Arts, where she founded EADJ and initiatives like Intermittent Rivers and When We Gather to promote cultural dialogue. She is a MacArthur Genius Award recipient and curated the inaugural Tennessee Art Triennial.
Kamaal Malak is a bassist, songwriter and former member of 2x Grammy-winning group Arrested Development. His versatility as an artist is further exemplified by his collaborations with country music icon Shania Twain, bridging genres and expanding his musical reach. Beyond his performance career, at Vanderbilt University, Malak serves as a professor at CAL ” Cultural Advocacy and Leadership”, where he teaches the popular “Hip Hop Culture in America”.
About OMER ASIM
Omer Asim and Maya Antoun are the co-creative directors of the brand Omer Asim.
Omer Asim is a clothier with a meticulous focus on substance, craft, form and construction that define the brand’s solid silent aesthetic. Modern shapes, cuts and textures are balanced with primal elements creating a sense of regressive future.
The idée fixe is – clothing as objects, a mere pedestal for the individual. Minimal yet detailed by monastic drapery and precision tailoring, the garments speak to urban nomads that move quietly with articulate intent.
Omer learnt his craft working with Maurice Sedwell of Savile Row, and Vivienne Westwood before freelancing in the industry.
After graduating from The Bartlett School of Architecture, he moved into garment making after time spent studying psychoanalysis. During his psychoanalytic training he became fascinated with clothing and appearance in relation to mind and body.
Maya Antoun, co-founder and co-creative director, trained as a jewellery designer-maker and has worked extensively on craft-based capacity building projects in Sudan and Congo. She first joined Omer as a collaborator working on jewellery, but soon became his right hand working on all aspects of vision, brand direction and identity.
Their work straddles Art, craft, and fashion, with strong interest in the practice of making and the space prior to object completion. They explore elements of traditional making-techniques through conversations around ‘process’, and what is discarded and/or concealed during and by the progression of making.
The value proposition of their work is atemporal; they continually interrogate the contextuality of their collections/garments and their timelines as contemporary cultural artefacts.
About Tate Modern
Tate Modern, opened in 2000, is one of the world’s leading contemporary art museums, renowned for its innovative exhibitions and public programs. Its 25th anniversary celebrates a legacy of art, community, and global impact.