Where Art Belongs: Rethinking the Art in Artist

This piece was originally published in the May 2025 issue of Pandora Curated.

Illustration by Mukta Nitin Desai

Are Artists Better Off Outside Traditional Institutions?

In a world where innovation is the default setting and creativity is currency, artists are voluntarily opting for non-conventional ways of displaying art—digital exhibitions, interactive spaces, self-publishing, Instagram galleries, etc. With this shift towards breaking out of traditional institutions rather than breaking in, creators seem to be finding solace in the autonomy that non-traditional institutions introduce, and the question of where art belongs has never been more relevant.

This shift in the choice of mode of expression doesn’t necessarily denote a rejection of traditional institutions. Traditional institutions are historically established venues or organisations for portraying art. This may include museums, art galleries, auction houses, universities, art academies and the like. These traditional spaces still hold within them a deeply embodied history of spaces and function as a vital treasure of knowledge. However, this abundance of knowledge that museums and similar spaces seem to provide can oftentimes be tainted.

Museums, for example, do not stand apart from colonial histories, internal politics and funding partisanship, furthering the point of how such spaces are not neutral in their existence. Famous museums such as the British Museum house numerous ‘controversial artefacts’ that were acquired by the British through raids to aid their control over their colonies.

Though several attempts have been made to return these objects to their rightful owners, several are still housed at the British Museum. The process of restitution of these artefacts has been incredibly long and slow with bureaucratic procedures further hindering the returning of these objects to their rightful owners. The very presence of these objects, ranging from the Parthenon Marbles to the Benin Bronzes, in the British Museum for ‘conservation’ purposes raises ethical questions about the ownership rights, restorative justice and the legacy of imperialism.

This leads us to ask some pertinent questions: If traditional institutions are not devoid of such problematic legacies, how can one make a compelling case for the preference of traditional institutions as the absolute symbol of artistic legitimacy? Why do artists seek such legitimization, and what may they gain in preferring such spaces over non-traditional methods of displaying art? Are these challenges an acceptable trade-off for artists in the pursuit of recognition and value for their work?

In contrast, alternative spaces of exhibiting art (physical and digital) can be preferred for a variety of reasons—accessibility, convenience, freedom of curating, interaction over exclusivity. With museums and art galleries comes a lengthy approval process that hinders accessibility to emerging artists due to its bureaucratic nature. This institutionalised structure may sometimes curtail the freedom to express and explore rather than providing a platform for it to emerge.

Alternative spaces like digital exhibitions and interactive spaces provide artists with the autonomy that traditional spaces often lack, along with the freedom to curate art as they envision. This freedom to create fosters a preference for interaction with the audience over the exclusivity of museums and art exhibits. Often, passive viewers in a museum audience may get the opportunity to directly interact with the artwork in such alternative spaces. Such direct engagement with art challenges the conventional boundaries associated with this discipline, blurring the line between the artist and the audience, and proving that creating art and engaging with it can be a shared process.

This is especially true in the case of self-publishing artists who prefer community spaces and organic interactions with the consumers of their art. For example, Shantell Martin, a British visual artist, has built a massive global following through her distinctive style of black and white art, which she creates live in front of viewers. She invites viewers to engage with her art by creating her work on unconventional spaces such as public spaces and community spaces, depicting the versatility of creative expression. Through her live drawings, she has been able to combine art and performance in a beautifully unconventional way.

Artists like Shantell Martin are proof that successful careers can be built beyond the restrictions of traditional institutions. However, this desire to create art without any restrictions invites a larger question: Is institutionalisation of such alternative spaces still the end goal? Will artists succumb to seeking legitimization and validation from the structures they initially resisted? Or will we advance to a new generation where interaction and inclusivity outweigh the institutional validation that traditional spaces provide?

With the age of ease and convenience, the growing digital art world also brings with it ‘evolutionary’ baggage. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), for example, are extensively polluting the environment due to their usage of Ethereum in vast quantities, which also raises ethical environmental concerns. Though NFTs provide a medium for artists to monetize their artwork digitally and engage with audiences globally, their cultural and artistic value is often viewed with skepticism. 

Additionally, the question of funding in such alternative spaces remains a lingering shadow. Irregular funding may risk the artist's ability to sustain longer and create more creative projects, and the relative lack of visibility in such spaces poses a larger threat to the disappearance of these unconventional art forms.

Artists, now empowered by the scope that alternate spaces offer, find themselves in a world full of unprecedented challenges yet novel possibilities. Their medium of expression now includes art deemed unfit or unsuitable for traditional institutions. Alternative spaces have democratised art by expanding its definition to include newer and unimaginable forms. 

This brings us back to our original question: Are artists better off outside traditional institutions? The answer isn’t absolute, and the understanding is even more nuanced. Art, no longer confined to the walls of a museum, has woven itself deeply in our lives. Perhaps art lives on in everyday spaces—cafes, libraries, rooftops, and homes—where it remains accessible and alive for all emerging and established artists alike.

Edited by the Curated Editorial Team

Harnoor Kaur Uppal (she/her), an undergraduate student of Global Affairs with a minor in Public Policy, is a writer at Pandora Curated. Her research interests lie at the confluence of media, politics and cultural studies, with a particular focus on the preservation of tribal identities and indigenous knowledge systems and their living traditions.

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Keywords: Alternative Art Spaces, Traditional Art Institutions, Digital Art Exhibitions, Artists Outside Museums, Independent Artists Platforms, Self-Publishing for Artists, Art and Institutional Critique, Interactive Art Spaces, Colonialism in Museums, Decolonizing Art Spaces, Shantell Martin Art, NFTs and Environmental Impact, Art Without Galleries, Artist Autonomy and Freedom, Museum Ethics and Controversy, Art Legitimacy and Recognition, Digital Art Sustainability, Non-Traditional Art Careers, Art Democratization, Future of Art Display