«If you want the public to engage with the arts, you can’t treat them with disdain», says Alka Sehgal Cuthbert.
It’s been an interesting time for the arts of late. A few weeks ago, Tate Britain opened its renovated galleries to reveal paintings hung in chronological order without information plates. Before that, the revamped Rijksmuseum re-opened and, like Tate Britain, it also had a new take on the hanging criteria for its art. Whatever the merits or otherwise of these particular attempts to re-present art to us, they do at least seem to be driven by an admirable impulse – to allow more space for people to develop their own interpretations of art works. This is certainly a welcome development for anyone interested in art.
Unfortunately, at a recent event called ‘What’s the point of art schools?’, a far less welcome trend was apparent.
