The Economy Attention: Museums
Introduction
Art Museum has been stuck with the old tradition and architecture. Though translated as a means to conserve the explicit forms and themes depicted by the different forms, it is falling out with the general public. The 21st century seems to seek and ascertain relevance and aesthetics by the art museums for continued business prosperity. Innovations and re-inventions by the museums are a means to increase the spectrum by the public during their visits to the museums. Current focus levels can be attributed to the different learning structure by the modern education. Modern education puts less focus on the art themes and paintings presented in the museums which contributes to the decreased low-focus visits to the existing museums around the globe.
The museum contributes to the growth of the society. These have to present the ideologies and consistency in the presentation of their art forms. The new museum exhibits characteristics not previously envisioned in the 19th or 20th century. This is explicit of the 21st centuries where the new museum exhibit commercial orientation than focusing on the art forms and development of these art. According to Karsten Schubert, the new museum exhibits new architecture and strategies to draw the masses to the centres. They have exquisite displays, galleries and the buildings themselves. Priority has shifted more to increasing the number of visits/subscription to the museum (Schubert 75). Much has been commercialized, leaving little/less consideration of the art forms and themes. Unlike old periods where art defined the societal setup, the perspective has changed. In the 21st century, art is seen as a fulfillment for the indolent curiosity of the public.
Potential problems that may arise when the museums imitate corporations is the decreased developmental aspects of the art forms (Schubert 61). With much pressure on the private investments and sponsorship, the focus shift of the museum will be to the development of financial resources more than the perpetration of the art forms. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) paints the strategies of the new museum in that it has formed several business partnerships for the generation of funds, for example, LACMA leased its building formerly housing to May Co. (Schubert 36). This acts as a funds drive for more cash flows to the museum. It has also managed to acquire historical art pieces and organized their display centres/gallery in the museum. Care is given more to the maintenance and aesthetic value of the pieces than the portrayed meaning or themes perceived by the pieces.
The rapid transformation instigates the need to re-evaluate the functions of the museums. This will provide focus and goals to be fulfilled for the continued development of art and the society in general. Art has been commercialized, with local pieces being collected internationally for stocking by other museums (Jewsiewicki 47). Economically, it is of great advantage but this downplays the main need for art. Considering the Lubumbashi, as described by Bogumil, art is meant to act as a remembrance and perpetrate societal development for the people in Lubumbashi. With the pieces produced local artists in Lubumbashi being outsourced for display in other international museums, the public will have little or no access to the themes presented (Jewsiewicki 59). This makes the Lubumbashi public devoid of the intended change, yet to be instigated by the art pieces and forms made by their local artists. Jewsiwiecki depicts the adapting of the Lubumbashi museum to the needs of the people. The project, Memoirs de Lubumbashi, outline the architectural history and transformation realized in the capital since the colonial periods (Jewsiewicki 63). This fulfills the public’s curiosity to know the advent of Lubumbashi and possibly the developments realized forth.
China has registered increased number of museums across the nation. The growth has been attributed to the government support and the global shift to museums’ commercialization. The growth rate is approximated at 100 museums a year which portrays the Chinese growing art scene. The number of museums built between 2000 and 2011 is 1198 (Wong 23). The competition with other international art scenes and exhibitions contributed to the increased focus by the government on these museums, especially in major towns like Beijing and Shanghai. Corporation is maintained between the public and private museums to achieve synchrony and competitive advantage against other international museums (Wong 11). The Chinese museums are a reflection of the Schubert’s perspective on the new museums. The museum tries to tap into the international market and focus more on the commercial aspect of the museum projects. Outsourcing of the art pieces portrays the little effort to develop the local art scenery (Wong 19).
Conclusion
The new museums- are developing their aesthetics and marketing aspects. This is a true fact, but the shift of focus from the main purpose of the museums has degenerated their value and appeal to the general public. The competition created forth, in the global market, has put pressure on the local museums to concentrate more on the cash-flows and sponsorships other than the perpetration of the art. In the previous years, art had a critical position in the society. It held the major influence to spur growth or even revolution. This has changed as art has become more for the leisurely idle displays in the museums.
Works Cited
Jewsiewicki, Bogumil. “Museums for the People? Two Joint Projects for Haiti and the Congo” in Contemporary Art and the Museum: A Global Perspective (Peter Weibel, Andrea Buddensieg, eds.). Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz, 2007.
Schubert, Karsten. “Democracy of Spectacle: The Museum Revisited.” In “The Curator’s Egg, 2nd ed. London: Ridinghouse, 2009.
Wong, Winnie. “Arresting Development: Winnie Wong on China’s museum boom. ARTFORUM, 2015.