Band 5+: Many people think that museums and galleries should only show work from local artists rather than work from other countries. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is commonly believed that majority of people want galleries and museums to showcase only local artwork and never foreign artwork. This essay disagrees with the aforementioned statement because this would cultivate cultural illiteracy and multicultural insensitivity in the local people that visit such places.

One compelling rationale for my position is cultural illiteracy. This is because the local residents would remain close minded and myopic, if they are not exposed to new forms of artwork, meanwhile the foreigners cannot participate in community activities which would lead to paucity of cultural advancements and development in that particular country. For example, a recent survey by Professor Shooh Cartey at the University of Zurich identified cultural illiteracy as one of the reasons for growth and development in some African countries such as Cameroon and Nigeria.

Anothe pivotal reason is the lack of multicultural sensitivity among the local people. Since, no foreigner’s work is ever welcomed, the locals would never feel empathy towards the outsider which would lead to a sense of insecurity for the immigrant. Furthermore, the latter would feel marginalised and incapable of self expression via their artwork leading to social tension and lack of creativity, insightfulness and analytical thinking for both parties. For instance, recently, Xenophobia is as a result of multicultural insensitivity in South Africa, where the locals are not willing to learn from the more competent counterparts but would rather have them killed. Nonetheless, some may argue that the galleries and museums belong to the local citizens and should not be shared, so the foreigners does not overtake the original owners but I do not support this idea because artwork is a tool for learning irrespective of its creator.

In conclusion, while many prefer local arts to be displayed in showrooms as against foreign ones, I refute the above assertion because it promotes lack of cultural advancements and creates social tension among the parties involved.