I don’t really like being called an ‘art critic’, I much prefer the term ‘art writer’. Most of what I do is writing, rather than critique, however, on this occasion, having held back for some time I really do feel the need to have my little say.
I am a stranger here, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which allows me to stand back a little more and observe. I have been coming here for nine years now, traveling to see artists, art establishments and art galleries in Battambang, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. This one year sojourn has made me think a little more about my perceptions of what is happening here.
Battambang, in general, I felt was more open and welcoming to this writer stranger though, since my last visit, I have seen the arrogance of Phnom Penh seeping in. Because of external, and then internal, strife which Cambodia has suffered has sadly meant that most creative people in Cambodia are now in their 20s, 30s and 40s, with few wise heads to guide them in the notion of perfecting their art. This has largely been replaced by the arrogance of youth.
While being here, in Siem Reap, for a longer than usual stay, I have welcomed the potential to engage in the local ‘art scene’ and to get to know more about the artists and galleryists. Unfortunately, that has not happened. I have not been welcomed with open arms but, rather, kept at arm's length. Despite my best efforts to arrange meetings, to give the opportunity of interaction, my entreaties have mostly fallen on deaf ears.
On three occasions I did visit one gallery, which shall remain anonymous, but was far from welcomed. Before my third and final visit, I had requested one of my Khmer friends to accompany me. She declined. She intimated that she found the staff and atmosphere unwelcoming and, after trying to engage, she has given up. That is a shame, as my friend is an up-and-coming Khmer artist, with a heart. Dismissing her words as jealousy, I went for that final time and realised that she was right.
Is it a ‘thing’ now, to buy your own beverages and snacks at an art show opening? Well it does seem to be with one art gallery in Siem Reap. Free booze and free grub has always been a lure to see artworks. Having to buy your own, somewhat lessens the pleasure and, dare I say, the welcoming element of any art show. If I want to be ignored, and pay for overpriced wine and nosh, I’ll go to one of the few pubs still open during this pandemic era, without the need to be face to face with, or totally ignore, what’s on the walls. And, just maybe, we are starting to talk about the very same elitism which excludes the riff raff from galleries around the world.
When you force your audience to buy their own refreshments, you are making a judgement about your visitors, their priorities and your relationship with them. For wallet-laden expatriates, paying for a tipple and a nibble is certainly no hardship. For the rest of us, it is most off putting. And when I say drinks I mean soft drinks and water too.
While ‘artist talks’ are very much now a ‘thing’ with the artist getting the chance to tell you what you should be thinking about his or her artworks, there is more to art education than that. Art galleries, and some artists, in Cambodia have yet to learn the need for education, of themselves and of the public. One vital aspect of interaction between artist, galleryist and public is communication. What and how are you communicating?
More needs to be done in regard to educating the general public (perhaps your future buyers) about art, artists and the curating of both. Many places, and Cambodia is one of them, rely too much on the existing cognoscenti without a thought that they are a limited number with a limited time frame. Audiences must be grown by gentle interactions, subtle inferences and connections made between the created, the creative, the curators and the interested yet under-educated congregation.
Attitudes which have separated the people from the artworks must change. Art galleries need to be more welcoming to their potential public and yes, the traditional welcome, free drink and free curly sandwiches are all part and parcel of that.
I feel that I have been finger wagging here. I had moved away from that, but what I have experienced here in Cambodia, over the past year, with people reluctant to engage, galleries acting as pubs and young artists exhibited far too early in their careers has made me speak out.
I hope that this changes. I hope that artists and galleryists can find new ways to bring an art education to the general public, and that those currently involved in the art business remember that it is about art, more than business. If it is about business, then you really do need to look a little more at your communication strategies.
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