A bright blue door stands alone with the help of two sandbags. A printed notice is stuck onto the glass for all who pass by to see. It alerts them to the introduction of an entry fee of €6 for the Hugh Lane Gallery, only high earners will be allowed free entry. It is signed by ‘a wholly owned company of Dublin City Council’.
Kerry Guinan created this exhibition in A4 Sounds studio in response to Dublin City Council’s latest attempt at creating a designated ‘cultural quarter’ in the city, this newest project being positioned on Parnell Square. Past ‘cultural quarter’ initiatives included Temple Bar and Smithfield Square, with former and current residents of the latter area testifying to the dangerous outcomes of these initiatives – rising rents, the closure of independent art spaces and sole trader businesses, replaced by international coffee chains and expensive supermarkets.
Guinan, an NCAD graduate and activist, recently wrote a paper on what happened in Smithfield, entitled ‘The Impact and Instrumentalisation of Art in the Dublin Property Market: Evidence from Smithfield, Dublin 1996 – 2016’, with her position for candidacy in the last general election used to highlight the need to end the complicity of artists in the gentrification of Dublin city. Guinan is also a recipient of the A4 Artist in Residence Programme 2017. The arts company behind the programme, A4 Sounds, claim their mission is to create a supportive environment for artists to explore social and political issues relevant to inner city Dublin.
Multi-media is utilised as a key part of Guinan’s exhibition, with various props filling the space and news articles displayed on walls. They all rotate towards a small television screen which turns itself on and plays the script of a conversation between the artist and the two gardaí who came to her home following an email hoax where Dublin City Councillors were told by the ‘Hugh Lane’ that free access to the gallery would be restricted to those who are ‘actively contributing to the Cultural Quarter’ of Parnell Square – those who earn over €45,000, pay over €1,500 in monthly rent, or who are private sponsors of the new Parnell Square Cultural Quarter development. Is a place on one of Lonely Planet’s must-see lists worth the driving out of lower income families, who have a culture of their own?
The exhibition is sparse and pared back in it’s design. There is a comfort in the lack of small white boxes of ‘important’ information, missing from the surrounds of the various elements in the exhibition. A thin broadsheet is available for you to take, but it, too, holds little information and leaves the viewer to come up with their own opinions.
Did Guinan write the hoax email that this exhibition revolves around, or does she simply see the contents of that email as the most plausible outcome of private investors with private interests endearing themselves to a “cultural quarter”?
The most compelling aspect of this exhibition is how Guinan foreshadows the eventual privatisation of culture and privilege based on economic means through her use of ‘brandalism’. ‘Brandalism’, or ‘subvertising’ as it is also known, is the subversion of a known brand, using all their characteristics, to display a political message usually targeted at the brand or the users of the brand. The most famous example being the spoof Volkswagen advertisement saying ‘We’re sorry we got caught’ after they were found cheating in emissions tests in 2015.
Guinan’s ‘brandalism’ includes a large noticeboard, matching the Hugh Lane gallery’s style in physical presence as well as minor details such as colour and font. It stands in the centre of the room and alerts people to the restrictions on entry as mentioned in the press release. The noticeboard proves so realistic in it’s design that one almost believes that it had just been lifted from the entrance of the Hugh Lane. Guinan shows her wonderful attention to detail and strong dedication to her art in this brandalism element alone.
The Parnell Square “cultural quarter” development is yet another attempt at gentrification with benefits for the few and exclusion for the rest. Guinan explores that what initially seemed a ridiculous e-mail prank, in hindsight, could well become reality. Even if galleries of rising “cultural quarters” don’t explicitly state that only people that fit the “actively contributing” criteria, outlined above, are allowed enter, they will be the only people who can afford to live in the surrounding areas of these galleries, highlighted by the further increase in rents that such developments to the inner city will likely bring. Guinan’s exhibition raises the important question of how much value we are willing to place on commercialised culture. Is a place on one of Lonely Planet’s must-see lists worth the driving out of lower income families, who have a culture of their own?
This is a discussion that will be ongoing as the plans for the new Cultural Quarter continue to develop. Guinan’s exhibition equips visitors with the questions they should be asking about what is happening to their city.
Opening hours Saturday 22nd of July from 2pm to 7pm (followed by a Q&A with the Artist 7pm – 8:30pm) and Sunday 23rd of July from 2pm to 5pm. Further information on the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter development can be found here: http://parnellsquare.ie
