Culturally Speaking: Cultural Tourism

CULTURAL TOURISM

Recently, I spoke to a manager of a small arts institution in the DC area. Happily, he shared that he would be taking a month’s long vacation in Europe and the organization which he directs, would close July and August. This practice, no longer the norm, usually provided a modest salary with a rewarding vacation in exchange for a laborious ten-month season. In years past the principal staff of most museums and arts institutions would enjoy a welldeserved hiatus and head off to Europe where art fairs and expos beckoned, as they still do.

Certainly the museums got the windfall ---- they retained their devoted and under paid employees and gained The Summer Loan Show. With little monetary costs for the institutions, this exhibition was composed of art from the first rate collections of the esteemed trustees and donors.

While these collections were exhibited and protected under the museums’ reliable security systems, the happy lenders often enjoyed worry-free summers on the French Riviera, Monaco, Provence or other places where the rich congregate.

Over time, such exhibitions were swapped out by different forms of philanthropy as lenders installed their personal security systems in their homes and art museums moved to create the kinds of shows they really wanted--- those in which the costs are shared with other institutions. In such traveling exhibitions, some curatorial responsibilities may be shared among colleagues, at other institutions, which host the shows at different times. Major support often comes from corporations, foundations and yes, those “angels” or deep pocketed individuals.

These exhibitions are pricey but they are curated to be groundbreaking as well as academically and historically significant. Thus, they can appeal to a wide variety of visitors. Moreover, lots of art lovers are willing to travel the globe to see these special shows. Some patrons visit the same show at different venues to compare how it is mounted and see what may be added at different points. Yes, art or cultural tourism is no longer limited to summer months but takes place year round.

Today the business of cultural tourism is booming world-wide. While critically important and aesthetically sensational exhibitions are offered year round, most festivals still take place during the summer and occasionally extend through the fall. Conversely, exhibitions and programs of the smaller and/or private establishments do not generate enough foot traffic or revenue to remain open at times when patronage is often highest and more varied. Many of these institutions struggle to exist.

In the DC area we are fortunate as we have large and small institutions. In fact, we have one of largest art per capita ratio in the country and one is constantly faced with how to get to a gallery or a museum to see a brilliantly curated exhibition before it closes. Most recently, Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice had a booming run at the National Gallery of Art (March 24, 2019-July 07, 2019). In times past one could not imagine seeing such an exhibition in Washington, D.C. It consisted of 46 works of one of the greatest artists in Western culture who was born 500 years ago. In times past, one would have to take a trip to Venice to see most of this Michelangelo influenced genius’s work. Tintoretto often created works for churches and civic buildings; thus his greatest paintings are too large to travel. Nevertheless, what we had in early summer in Washington was nothing short of amazing.

While there is still some summer left, do take advantage of three special shows in the DC area:

The Life of Animals in Japanese Art: National Gallery of Art - East Building, Concourse Galleries - June 2 – August 18, 2019. These are works representing 17 centuries (from the fifth to the present day) in a wide variety of media—sculpture, painting, lacquer work, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and the woodblock print. There is also a selection of some 300 works, drawn from Japanese and American public and private collections. The Japanese government has designated several works as Important Cultural Property.

Artists Respond: American Art and the Vietnam War, 1965-1975: Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and F Streets, NW) - March 15, 2019–August 18, 2019. This exhibition includes 100 works representing artists of various races and backgrounds who responded to the moral implications and ideologies of the War in Viet Nam and

America’s part in that tragic event that took the lives of 58,209 Americans. Some 47,424 are listed as combat deaths, and 10,785 are listed as being killed in other circumstances. In addition, 2,489 Americans are listed as missing.

The Evidence Room: Hirshhorn, Independence Ave and 7th Street, SW - June 12 - September 8, 2019. This exhibition visually exposes and testifies to the atrocities of the Holocaust while drawing on forensic evidence to focus our attention on the architecture that made the Auschwitz concentration camp a systematic factory for mass murder. Commissioned by the Venice Architecture Biennale and curated by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, the Hirshhorn’s presentation is the U.S. premiere.

Enjoy the role of the cultural tourist this summer. A lot of institutions are counting on you and you will benefit greatly.

Terri B.