A Slice of Home in an Art Gallery
Photo credit @Erin Deborah Waks
By Erin Deborah Waks
Everyone who knows me knows I love a gallery, an art installation, a museum. It goes hand in hand with my love of reading, career in writing, and admiration for all things aesthetic. In many ways, galleries are a great place to learn more about a place’s culture. Art can be a way of expressing a particular society’s intricacies and struggles. A certain gallery’s style and structure in itself also say a lot about the culture within which they operate.
Yesterday I went to Rabat’s famous Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and was not disappointed. I found the selection of works on display to be profound, complimentary, and indicative of many Arab artists’ views on the world and its complexities. As I walked around and read a brief history of art in the Arab world, I felt a sense of deep contentment and calm, combined with an overwhelming appreciation of the richness of the culture housed right here in the city in which I’m living.
But it wasn’t just the art itself - and the exquisite building of the museum - which so impacted me. Having been away from London for 3 weeks now, the anxiety of moving has definitely marked my experience thus far. Now, though, I am beginning to settle into the rhythm of things here. I felt the serenity provided by this, and many, art galleries, was indicative of my relaxation into Moroccan culture and my time here.
It got me thinking about the power of art galleries and museums. Why do so many people enjoy walking around a space aptly designed to showcase beautiful, or at least provoking, works of art? Sure, many of us are hugely appreciative of the works themselves. But the significance of these establishments perhaps goes beyond that.
Being in an art gallery can be almost meditative. A place to be focused solely on art and peace, and not on the chaos of life outside. A space that feels like a slice of a home - for me, a welcome sentiment when I am so far removed from my own.
