Who Gave You the Right to Decide What Art Is? (EN)
How marketers, social media managers, and so-called “cultural managers” with no background in art are turning galleries in Samarkand into branded showrooms.
DISCLAIMER:
This text may offend those who confuse “exposition” with “exhibition,” “art” with “art-project,” and artists with content production contractors.
It might hurt the feelings of cultural managers who believe their degree is a substitute for lived experience in the arts.
Highly sensitive SMM specialists are advised to proceed with caution — possible side effects include sudden tone of voice instability.
This post doesn’t heal — it irritates: ego swelling and mild allergic reactions to meaning may occur.
Any resemblance to real events or people is entirely intentional.
From Artist to “Content Unit”
More and more, art spaces are no longer filled with curators, researchers, or artists — but with brand specialists, reach analysts, and “strategic positioning” experts.
Marketers. SMM managers. And their more elusive cousins — “cultural managers” whose main portfolio is built on pitch decks, not exhibitions.
They run galleries as if they were corporate visual communication departments.
They don’t read art theory — but they’re confident every project needs to “hit current visual trends.”
They’re not interested in the artist’s inner conflicts — just in audience engagement.
They don’t feel an exhibition — they track conversions.
A Room Made for Reels
For them, a gallery isn’t a space of intellectual collisions, but a neatly arranged stage for hashtagged events.
Bonus points if it makes a good Reels backdrop. Ideally with a partner logo in the corner and a sponsored coffee welcome zone.
Exhibitions are PR events.
Artists are visual suppliers.
Criticism is a reputational liability.
If there’s too much meaning, they ask to “simplify the narrative.”
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Too much politics? “Please remove from the press release.”
Too much of the artist? “Could we reframe the focus?”
KPI-Approved Art
Statement gives way to packaging.
Curators are replaced by managers fluent in grant proposals but unable to tell Georges Bataille from Jean Paul Gaultier.
Research gives way to media planning.
Because real art is too unpredictable.
And they have deadlines, quarterly reports, and a “justification of relevance” to submit.
And yes, sometimes they genuinely believe they’re helping.
They make guides on “artist positioning in media,” write tips on “how to run an art blog,” organize pitch sessions for the “creative industries.”
By the time they finish talking, the actual artists have usually left the room.
Who Let Them In?
To be fair — they didn’t just show up.
They were invited. Because they’re convenient.
They write polite emails, show up on time, and don’t ask difficult questions.
They never argue.
They’re always ready to “adjust the concept to align with partner expectations.”
And artists — well, you know.
They come with difficult thoughts, give talks on power and the body, ask for freedom and space, and tend to ruin the aesthetic.
So What Are We Left With?
The galleries function, the stories get posted, the reports are filed.
But between the polished layout and the real statement — there’s a yawning gap.
Because art is not a “content plan.”
And the artist is not your ambiance technician.
