Creative Cities / Strip Mines

STRIP MINING FOR CREATIVE CITIES?

Creative Cities are built on top of existing communities, strip-mining them of their natural resources, displacing residents, cultural practices, community infrastructure and replacing vital social safety nets with simulacra of pre-existing forms. Middle and upper middle class consumers are celebrated for their ability to consume and territorialize hip, urban spaces. Meanwhile, the working poor are left to work in precarious, low-wage "uncreative" jobs that sustain creative lifestyles, living in increasingly expensive and inaccessible neighbourhoods.

While Creative City rhetoric touts a potential to invent economic powerhouses of major cities across the world, with trickle down benefits to existing communities, the practices of these economic initiatives often leave behind a devastation of neighbourhoods. Once culturally rich and economically viable, they become a playground for developers and investors looking for short term gain.

With this exhibition we are looking for artwork that explores processes of strip-mining, replica and simulacra as they relate to Creative Cities.