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| Polish poster exhibition in the Salt Gallery in Istanbul... |
There’s
something to be said for mixing, or at least subtly introducing, so called
‘high-art’ into pervasive public contexts, scenes it usually is not exposed to, environments it’s commonly partitioned from. This urban tactic is something
that could potentially be considered particularly appropriate for the
GCCregion, where - even though today having its own set of cultural institutions
and exhibitions of an international esteem and quality - these still remain
somewhat hermetic entities and events, insulated both in exposure as well as
affect from the general population. As a result they are all defined as destinations
– locales one has to ‘plan’ to visit – rather than places one just, apropos,
would happen to walk by, get curious about (rather than intimidated by), and
walk in… In Doha examples of such
hermetic entities would be the
MIA (Museum of Islamic Art) located on a manmade
island that can only be accessed by car, and the
Katara Cultural Village, which
is split from the rest of Westbay by a, in turn, artificial stretch of hills
surrounding its collection of cultural institutions.
An
allowance for such spontaneous incidents to occur could be much more of a
catalyst to engage and awaken a public interest, awareness, even debate, about related
cultural interests, exposure to concepts regarding ‘what it all means and is
for’.
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| Exhibition in the Salt Gallery... |
Whereas
such quasi-public bodies are currently conceived and segregated into themed
settings (cultural theme-parks, of sorts), a more benign approach for engaging
the ‘public’ with their intents would be to allow such entities to permeate the
local renditions of the high-street – be this along an actual street or one of
the regional (village-sized) shopping malls. By mixing in such cultural spaces
in amongst chain-shops, department-store POP’s and food venues the threshold for
triggering ones curiosity is reduced, allowing for a more organic awareness to
evolve.
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| A exhibition on contemporary dance at the Salt Gallery... |
As
examples of existing endeavors of such locales can be mentioned Istiklal Avenue
in Istanbul, where the
Arter Gallery is found (which recently featured an
exhibition by
Marc Quinn). A short walk down is the the
Salt Gallery, which has
a more design and multi-disciplinary focus. It also has a book-store, a
restaurant, and a small garden on the top floor.
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| Salt Gallery facade... |
Another
example, here sited in a high-end mall context, is the
TCDC (Thailand Creative
Design Center) in Bangkok. In this latter example a whole cohort of design
related activities – a design library, gallery, coffee-shop, materials library,
exhibition space, design-shop, as well as a fancy membership lounge - occupy a
floor of the Emporium Shopping Mall.
Mixing
– subjecting – these kinds of conceptual paradigms to an audience that’s not
usually exposed to these types of works can only be a good thing. Expanding the
awareness about Art and Design, and the catalysts and ideas that trigger and
drive such engagement, could be a good way to disseminate info and promote what
we do…
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