Museum as Hub

Hub Notes: Personal Connections, 3/5/08

A couple with a stroller spent a while in the Hub space, discussing each work in “Tlatelolco and the localized negotiation of future imaginaries” in Spanish. After about fifteen minutes, I asked them if they were familiar with the neighborhood. It turned out that the father had worked in the Foreign Affairs building that is right next to the Aztec pyramid ruins. He had a strong affinity to each artwork and felt the rejuvenation of these buildings and communities were imperative to the reconstruction of a better Tlatelolco. There is a wide spectrum of audience members that come through the Hub space, all with their own reactions to the works. Some hear the history of Tlatelolco and walk away, turning a blind eye to the topic as it does not directly pertain to them and their understanding of art. Some are intrigued once they understand the context of the exhibition within the larger partnership of organizations. Others are curious and find ways to engage with the works. But it is extremely rewarding when a visitor connects personally with the works and identifies with them a great deal. The conditions of interactivity put forth through the Museum as Hub project really generates a variety of ways in which art can be viewed and how displaced international topics are re-considered in an institutional setting.

-Lena Imamura