So I just came back from a long, much needed vacation to the Dominican Republic, where
I pretty much just sat in the sun, and drank Pina Coladas all day. But at one point I did
get my lazy butt off the lounge chair to go visit some museums and art galleries in the
local community. So some of my friends who are familiar with my travel habits, know that
I like to go to an art gallery or museum in a local community, wherever I visit, and they
were asking me - why is it that you do this?
Sure, places like Paris and New York are cultural and artistic hubs full of museums and art
galleries, but why bother with a place like a mountain village in Colombia, an riverside
city in China, an arctic community in Canada, or a seaside resort in the Dominican Republic?
Funnily enough - the taxi driver in Puerto Plata did think that I was probably the first
person to ask directions to an art gallery - as opposed to you know, the beach, the bar
or the strip club. So there are many reasons why I do this but I would say looking at local
art helps me view and understand the perspective of a culture from its local community. I get
to see a place and its people from beyond the lens of just a typical tourist. And that’s
why I think you should do it too.
So let’s face it - travel and the tourism industry can often be superficial and heavily commercialized.
Many of us crave having an authentic experiences, but as an outsider - it’s kind of hard to
know exactly what that experience should be. Plus - what exactly is an “authentic experience”
anyway? I’m sure there are lots of ways to describe it, but I personally define it
as being able to experience the life, culture and perspective of someone else.
And that’s where art comes in. By looking at the artistic creations of another person,
you are essentially seeing the world through their eyes. it’s obvious still not the same
thing as living somebody else’s life - but I mean until technology finds a way to put
myself in somebody else’s brain - it’s probably the closest thing we can get. Through
people’s artworks, you can see the things that they value, life experiences they’ve had
and the emotions they possess outpoured onto a canvas, paper, sculptural form or video
screen. We may not always understand it, but we get a chance to see and experience something
different, and perhaps find a way to relate to someone on the opposite end of the world.
To me - the Dominican Republic represents sunny skies, foamy waves on the beach, summery
drinks by the pool bar and colourful shop fronts on the street. But for someone like
Lilia, who grew up in Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic is her home. She sees the lush vegetation,
she sees what it’s like to be a woman and mother living in this country, its struggles
and its triumphs. She sees other women fighting for equality and peace, their determination
and their beauty. I also saw a work by artist Rafael Arzeno, a painting composed of a bottle
of Dominican Brugal Rum, surrounded by pictures of Puerto Plata, the Columbus Lighthouse in
Santo Domingo, The Statue of Liberty in New York, the Port of Hamburg in Germany and a
farm worker in Ecuador. I don’t know exactly what he was getting at, but looking at this,
I think perhaps he was contemplating Puerto Plata’s place in the modern, globalized
world, while still being shadowed by vestiges of colonialism.
Now I don’t speak Spanish, obviously with my horrible pronunciations of these Spanish
names, and a lot of- in a lot of these cases these artists don’t speak English. But they
really don’t need to. They could communicate with me, and so many other people, through
their art. I may not be able to see everything they would want me to see and know everything
they would want me to know - but I could still peer through this small window into their
lives and imagine them as the deep and complex human beings as they are and once were.
I find that seeing artistic creations from many places around the world, from as many
different perspectives as possible has made me a much more empathetical person and has
provided me with so many more frameworks to view the world that I probably wouldn’t
have conceived of on my own.
So what do you think? How would you define an authentic travel experience? And what are
some things that you like to do when traveling to get to know the local culture better?
Please let me know in the comments and see you next time!