Art Tourism - Its Concepts and Various Forms!
What is Art Tourism?
"Art tourism is a term that is used when people travel in order to visit, explore and engage in activities related to art. It includes traveling to art festivals, concerts, wine and cuisine events, to explore famous museums, etc." is the closest definition I found from the WikiAnswers, but my article is focused mainly on art tourism that is centred around paintings, sculptures and activities related to them.
Lately, many countries have started using art as a means to attract tourists by way of arranging art festivals in which the prominent artists of those countries participate in and showcase their works in exclusive shows. The tourists visiting such festivals are invited solely in the role of buyers of arts so as to generate revenue. This is only a broad definition of art tourism, but this form of tourism has existed from a long time, albeit the nature of it has varied and not just limited to buying and selling of art pieces. Also, the term 'art tourism' may sound new but it has existed from the very moment the concept of tourism was born.
Countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, France, Italy etc. have used art as medium to attract art afficionadoes and have achieved in molding the countries as a sort of a cultural cauldron where art lovers and buyers, gallery owners, artists, art collectors, museum curators, art students etc. from all over the world to study and buy art. While it is true that art is not just limited to a particular genre or ism or any such thing, it generally is used as a means to encapsulate a country's spirit in terms of its culture, history, geography, people etc.
Art Tourism in Places of Historical and cultural Interest
Besides art pieces being the centre of tourism, hundreds of thousands of people travel all over the globe exploring ONLY the large number of museums and art galleries to look at paintings, sculptures and other art pieces. This activity is a major contributor to art tourism, although not very commonly known in India. In fact there are many tour operators who arrange exclusive packages for such people. These packages are designed in such a manner that the group of tourists are taken to see the famous galleries and museums in London, Paris, New York, Rome, Milan, Florence, Amsterdam, etc. etc. and many other places, which are customised to suit the preferences of these people. These tourists travel around the world with the sole intent of viewing the works of great Master Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Alfonso Maria Mucha, Egon Schiele, J.M.W. Turner, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt, Rembrandt, Renoir, Manet, Rubens, Edgar Degas; to watch the splendid sculptures of Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Rodin and scores of other known and unknown artists! The revenue generated by people visiting these countries is quite huge and the contribution of such influx is great in the overall tourism industry of those countries.
There are certain masterpieces that attract thousands of people from across the globe. Eg. da Vinci's famous painting of a mysterious smiling beauty Monalisa, Virgin on the Rocks, both in the Louvre, Paris, among others; Michelangelo's 17 ft high marble sculpture of David at the Galleria del' Accademia in Florence, Italy, the ceiling frescoes and The Last Judgement by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City etc. are among others that attract large numbers of crowds. At the last count, Musee de Louvre of Paris alone attracted about 8,880,000 visitors in 2011.
Other museums in the world that attract highest numbers of visitors are the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Gallery - all in London, Musee d'Orsay in Paris, State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia etc. The list is actually endless and the number of masterpieces awaiting to be discovered are huge!
Mention here is a must of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Brentwood, U.S.A. J. Paul Getty, an avid art collector opened his entire personal collection of great masterpieces to the world in the form of J. Paul Getty Museum in the California state. His collections comprise of extremely valuable Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt, Turner, Manet, Monet, Renoir etc. and attract hundreds of thousands each year.
Artists as Tourists
Yes, artists are big on travelling, mainly for the purpose of seeking ideas and inspirations for creating new art. Thare are thousands of painters who travel around the world each year, seeking new and interesting subjects for their paintings, looking for creative breakthroughs in their work. The numbers may be a little less than regular tourists but they are yet, significantly important; for this love of travel among artists has given lovely masterpieces to the world. The needs of these artists are usually different from the regular tourist. A regular tourist might be satisfied with what is normally offered him as a tourist material in terms of culture, landscape, scenery etc. but an artist goes beyond it and endeavors to seek more. This has led to discoveries of many lovely yet unknown places of interest and beauty. Similarly certain towns and cities attract a large number of artists, eg. Venice is a destination that is normally visited by all artists acorss the world, and is a dream destination for all who have something to do with art. The local authorities have also made sure that the city and its various attractions in terms of architecture, culture, history etc. are preserved as it is.
Most artists usually prefer make small drawings and sketches, thumbnails etc. at different places and then paint them at leisure once back in their studios. There are others who create final paintings at the spot itself. The genre of this painting is called plein air painting. There are many groups of artists in USA and Europe who organize tours each year to different countries and towns with the sole purpose of plein air painting. Such groups of painters can be seen at various places in and around summer, and even during the off seasons when there are no regular tourists; thereby giving a boost to the regional or local economy in times when there is no business being conducted.
One might be wondering why I am going on about art and artists when the article should be on tourism! But the fact is that both are linked at one point or the other. Especially when there are constant constructional changes happening in every town and city, which indeterminably and unavoidably changes the face of many cities. These artists who have captured the essence of those places, help immortalize those places for posterity. There are several examples where well-known artists and the names of certain places are closely associated with each other.
eg. when I hear or read the word Kashmir, immediately the pictures of beautiful paintings by N.S.Bendre come up in my mind. Similarly, Paul Gauguin is synonymous with Tahiti. Master artist Ravi Paranjape's paintings of Ahmedabad, Anjaar in Kutch and China are some of my favorites. To go back a couple of centuries, the great artist Sir Edwin Lord Weeks visited India and created several paintings of the Rajas, Maharajas, their lifestyle etc. and those paintings are indeed awesome!
Art Camps In Different Places
There are different objectives with which an art camp is organised. One of them being, a group of artists visit some quiet, scenic destination and prefer to indulge in long days of working at various locations. They also invite with them a senior Master artist who interacts with them and guides them about painting techniques, exchange of creative ideas etc. When an artist visits any location, he is looking for interesting places and locations that may or may not interest a regular tourist. This activity usually leads the artists to places that are much less frequented by other tourists. This helps in bringing revenue to such places and gives a much-needed boost to the local economy.
Apart from only the artists, there are others who organize camps in which non-artist people who are interested in learning art, participate and are taught basics of drawing, painting, sculpting etc. The actual activities may vary but the focus is on allowing these people to indulge in something that is creative, at the same time visit new locales, indulge in photography etc. Other groups comprise mainly of aspiring artists and art students who take part in such camps to be able to enhance their creative skills by learning from other professional artists.
All of these are separated from regular tourist activities, but the needs of these groups remain the same as those of regular tourists with respect to accomodation, food, transportation etc. and sometimes even more as these groups require to buy large amounts of stationery items, and other related accessories more than others. Therefore, these activities are very much significant when we consider the economic factors related to tourism.
Initiatives by Governments
With increasing awareness about art and its significance in boosting economy, many governments are now taking more and more efforts to develop art tourism in their countries. Especially in a country like Malaysia, government is now focusing on creating more art galleries and museums and on betterment of those that already exist. They are giving more opportunities and facilities to the local artists and help them to showcase their art to the visiting tourists. They are also inviting artists from other countries to participate in various art-related events held in Malaysia. This has proved to be a great boost for the regional economy as well as created more opportunities of earning money.
To Conclude
Similar efforts need to be taken in India too. India is a favorite destination for American and European artists, especially vibrant and colourful states like Gujarat and Rajasthan. Every year, hundreds of artists visit these states to capture the essence and aura of their colourful culture and outfits in their paintings. The various festivals in these two states are favorites amongst foriegn tourists, like Pushkar Festival, Camel Festival in Rajasthan and the Kite Festival in Gujarat. These are the festivals that attract more number of artists than anywhere else in India. Sadly, nothing such is being done in other states to make full use of this tremendous potential to our full advantage.
Our tendency is to simply dwell back on what we already have and to not strive to create any more opportunities. If we could only keep our country clean, we could get more such money-making opportunities and attract more crowds. There is actually no dearth of artisans anywhere in India who can create amazing artpieces and boost our economy to a great extent but the efforts are lacking!
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