Art & Starchitects: the Franchising of Culture and Cultural Consumption
Art and architectures, with the influences of globalisation, have evolved from aesthetic pleasures and cultural media into potent devices that not only alter people’s cultural experiences and consumption but also pave a way for the franchising of culture in the contemporary era. Meanwhile, the ågrowing influence and exceptional success of some architectures allow a group of architects to acquire considerable worldwide reputation, making them ‘starchitects’.
To investigate the phenomena, the first half of this article attempts to elucidate their intricate relationships as well as their significant effects; Whilst the second aims to give a local example, with reference to the choice of the architect, the venue, and the operational model, to briefly manifest the global influences of art, architectures, and starchitects.
Over the decades, contemporary art has always been a well-received research focus in academia. Scholars, such as Craddock (2000), has pointed out the altogether shift in audience and media attention paid to visual art, suggesting a rocketing art consumption, which is a locus of researches on cultural consumption (Rössel et al., 2017). Martin (2007) provides us with some statistics: almost half of the general U.S. population attends cultural events at least once a month, or “frequently” as she puts it; young adults (aged 18 – 29), in particular, attend an average of 2.3 cultural events each month. One can easily see that art, which provides aesthetic functions, has become one of the most consumed goods and services nowadays. Such a shift is believed to be due to the increasing physical and intellectual accessibility of contemporary art brought by globalisation.
Many could notice that advancements of Information Technology under globalisation have facilitated cultural communications and homogeneity; individuals have developed a greater awareness of different cultures. Art, as a visual cultural element (Pan, 2013), is also increasingly being more acknowledged. Not only is art a cultural element, but it also contains various cultural fragments, e.g., traditional customs and garments. Thus, the better people understand cultures, the more knowledgeable they are about art. Individuals would feel less alienated from and unfamiliar with art. The threshold of appreciating art is lowered.
In the 1980s, ordinary people would have probably known art was not for them; even they had entered an art gallery accidentally (Collings, 2001). The art of the nineteenth century lost touch with its popular audience (Bumpus, 2000); Contemporary art, however, has expanded globally and grown more accessible to a broader public. With a decreasing rate of museum tickets, which is intended to encourage humanistic sophistication, albeit not always appreciated, the general populace has a better opportunity to engage with art, developing greater familiarity with art and its underlying cultural bits. The reasons for the accessibility of art, as noted previously, has offered the public extensive exposures to art, booming both art and cultural consumption. In addition, Bumpus (2000) points out that the association of art and wealth as well as intellectual obscurity, which was once a deterrent (isolating the poor from art), has become an asset for those who have been accumulating wealth with the flourishing global economy, which is partly due to globalisation. The image and impression of art, in this sense, gives people an additional incentive for individuals to consume art and culture.
There might be questions arising: How does art contribute to the franchising of cultures? The query leads us to the cooperation of art and starchitects. Where are artworks put? Inside art galleries and museums. One cannot discuss the effects of art without its surrounding environments.
Cultural institutions, e.g., museum organisations, have obtained the power to, to a certain extent, control cultural communications. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is undoubtedly an exemplar. The museum is under the international network of museums of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation which franchises museums across the globe. The project of building a Guggenheim museum in Bilbao was so astonishingly successful in transforming Bilbao, an impoverished industrial city, into a must-see tourist attraction worldwide (Safdie, 2010). It has enticed countries, especially developing ones, e.g., Brazil (Guasch, 2005), to plan for inviting starchitects, such as Frank Gehry, whose works include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, for the construction of such a landmark in order to lift the local economy.
Starchitects’ participation then becomes a determining factor of achieving such goals since not only do art pieces inside museums attract tourists, but also the façades of architectures. The notion of museums being white-box containers of artworks came to an end (Guasch, 2005). The architectures, per se, are no longer known as a supporting role; instead, they become one of the protagonists. Having the capabilities to carry out museum franchising (cultural heritage franchise (Wakefield, 2020)), starchitects are also capable for franchising cultures since in the processes of the production of museums, cultural heritage, which is extracted from diverse cross-cultural settings with historicised and contested pasts, is, meanwhile, transferred to venues (Wakefield, 2020).
They could utilise “international” mainstream architectural languages to infiltrate cities worldwide with sets of Western monocultural, ethnocentric-implied concepts. Because of the franchising of culture (sometimes seen as a sort of cultural invasion), conflicts often arise, as was the case in Bilbao. The Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), the moderate conservative and hegemonic Basque national party, were aware of the potential harm to the local culture that building a Guggenheim museum in their city might bring and thus, strong opposition to the project emerged (Guasch, 2005). Indeed, “the Guggenheim did not become Basque, nor did Basque culture influence the international Guggenheim’s [programme…, but] there has been a greater and greater deviation between the museum and its location” (Guasch, 2005, 193). In fact, speaking of Bilbao, most people would only recall the façade of the museum instead of Basque culture. Despite not being destroyed, the Basque culture currently faces the new form of competence in order to be solely remembered.
Besides, these museum franchises often feature internationally well-known artworks and exhibitions only, franchising mainstream cultures. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, for instance, held only one exhibition dedicated to a Basque artist, Chillida, from 1997 to 2005 (Guasch, 2005). One could notice the insurmountable difference between how internationally mainstream franchised culture and indigenous culture are treated differently. The combined impacts of featured artworks and starchitects on the franchising of culture, as well as our cultural experience and consumption are frightfully huge.
It might seem abstract to look into their influences in a macro-perspective; it, however, might already be affecting all of us without us realising.
Local cultural institutions are, in reality, attempting to replicate the Bilbao effect, which refers to how cultural institutions strategically develop into global institutions that facilitate economic development and tourism (Wakefield, 2020), in Hong Kong. The largest one, which is arguably the most acquainted, is the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. The authority has selected a renowned studio for architecture, Foster + Partners, whose notable works include the Trafalgar Square redevelopment and the Hong Kong International Airport, from a pool of international and multinational studios to be in charge of the masterplan of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), ensuring that the project stands out through a global lens long before the construction.
The geographical decision of the cultural district, moreover, considerably contributes to the WKCD’s reputation as one of the greatest locations to visit. The WKCD is situated in a reclaimed waterfront in West Kowloon, feasting visitors with a spectacular panorama of the iconic skyline dubbed “the Most Beautiful Skyline in the World” and the Victoria Harbour. The WKCD also has plentiful locational advantages; it is connected by MTR stations (Kowloon and Austin) and bus terminals nearby, which denotes high accessibility, as well as an enormous shopping mall, the Elements, with a total retail floor area of 93,000 m^2, which provides recreational functions. The venue makes the cultural district an excellent location for tourism promotion, which contributes to revenue and economic growth.
Furthermore, aside from forming a world-class arts and cultural hub, the WKCD aims to build a multi-purpose commercial zone. According to its official website, the authority has established a Project Delivery Department, which develops both strategies attracting creative industries as well as business strategies for retail, catering, and entertainment facilities. Moreover, the M+ & Exhibition Centre Department and Performing Arts Department would develop business models, e.g., to liaise with local and international organisations in search of potential business partnerships, in order to further commercialise the project, thereby intensifying the Bilbao effect.
The trend of the Guggenheim model prevails in the contemporary era and is seemingly inevitable. But are franchised cultures and local ones altogether compatible? Notwithstanding the benefits it brings to our societies, ones should always be aware of its possible adverse impacts on cultures, particularly ethnic ones which are in decline, so that we can maximise the positive effects on cultural consumption while protecting cultures.
References
Bumpus, J. (2000). Is “Difficult” Art Popular or Not?. Retrieved from http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=4054
Collings, M. (2001). Art-Crazy London. Evening Standard Magazine, 12 October: 12–14. London: Evening Standard.
Craddock, S. (2000). Arts Between Politics and Glamour. In M. Wallinger & M. Warnock (eds.), Art for All: their Policies and Culture. London: Peer.
Guasch, Anna Maria. (2005). Global Museum versus Local Artists: Paradoxes of Identity between Local and Global Understanding. In A. Guasch & J. Zulaika (eds.). Learning from the Bilbao Guggenheim, 186–187. Reno: Centre for Basque Studies, University of Nevada.
Martin, Patricia. (2007). Rengen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer — and What It Means to Your Business. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Pan, Yunhe. (2013). Cultural Composition. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.
Rössel, J., Schenk, P., & Weingartner, S. (2015). Cultural Consumption. Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioural Sciences: An Interdisciplinary, Searchable, and Linkable Resource, 1–14.
Wakefield, Sarina. (2020). Cultural Heritage, Transnational Narratives and Museum Franchising in Abu Dhabi. London: Routledge.
