Blog 3
12 April 2011 Last updated at 16:02 GMT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13054326
Summary
Summary
Margate was a popular seaside in Britain. Now it is a desolated village with wonderful beaches. The grandeur from the old days has gone. Great fires destroyed several attractions. Margate is called a ghost town, because of the many boarded shops.
The opening of the ‘Turner Contemporary art Gallery’ might be a turning point for Margate. One hopes that this Gallery will have the same effect for the town as The Guggenheim Museum has for Bilbao. The Turner Contemporary itself, designed by the famous architect David Chipperfield, and the collection inside will have a positive influence on the whole region. The collection is not permanent, but will always have at least one work of Turner.
Opinion
I think the opening of the Gallery will make people aware of the positive effect of art. The architectural design as well as the visual arts can make a huge difference for many people. It is difficult to express the value of art in terms of money, but I believe that if we could measure arts on a scale of well being it wouldn’t do bad at all.
The building itself is magnificent and has a wonderful luxurious appearance, but no doubt there will be others around who will turn away in revulsion when they see this building. However no one will pass the building without an emotion and may be this is one of the strongest arguments that art should be part of everyday life. Art makes it impossible to neglect ones feelings and the feelings of a society.
I think that Margate has to do more, then just opening the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery. To turn this ghost town into a thriving and lively village, shops have to reopen and revive this place. However, the opening of the Art Gallery is a good start, as it will attract people. I did not know, by the way, that Bilboa also has a Guggenheim Museum. I googled and discovered that there are actually five of them around the World. Thanks Caroline, for something learnt.
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