THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF ART IN DESIGN

Rue Kothari on the importance of establishing a creative and cultural identity through art

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Art can shine a light on even the darkest of corners. I'm speaking metaphorically of course, where the light represents enlightenment, and the dark is an absence of joy. As a curator and creative director with 25 years in the design industry, I've experienced both ends of the spectrum.

Over that time, I've written about, judged and been hosted in commercial spaces that have successfully vaulted beyond the confines of their boundaries, through the alchemy of art. On the other side, there are those for which we have too few fingers to count - the cookie cutter hotels, bland cardboard box developments and sterile office spaces where Ikea-style prints float on white walls with no reason or context.

I'm no stranger to the fact that budgets for decor are often an afterthought in the reckoning we call value engineering - where a last minute scrabble for dirhams warrants homogenous prints or generic wildlife sculptures. But, and here’s the rub, art should be the first consideration, an integrated part of the design philosophy, the narrative and the placemaking, for its ability to elevate the experience, engage the mind and promote cultural understanding of where we are - in the world, and as people.