Poverty Ignored
Re “Wych will,” Cover, Nov. 20: Artscape certainly deserves an “A” for the effort they put into convincing us of their essential humanitarianism, but not even the warmest of their self-congratulations could disguise the distressingly classist implications of their Wychwood Car Barns project.
The issue raises concerning questions about policy priorities in this city, both public and private. A real-estate developer receives $11 million of government funding to house post-suburban high-culture hacks, while thousands go homeless on east-side streets or are forced to the margins by sky-rocketing rents. The Canadian Urban Institute gives Artscape an award for innovative use of a brownfield, while squats are flushed out and Tent City is razed.
It is an increasingly familiar story. Affluent city dwellers attempt to confront neighbourhood blight but end up trapped in a trick question: destroy or beautify beyond recognition? EYE WEEKLY’s readership is no doubt well aware of who the winners are in this ongoing game of urban reinvigoration, but little is said with regard to the defeated.
If only we could put as much inspiration into addressing the crisis of poverty in Toronto as we put into the design of our art factories. Or maybe we need a “dilapidated eyesore” or two to remind us of the other, bleaker side of real life in our post-industrial city. ANDREW MOORE
No comments:
Post a Comment