Curation of market places in London’ street food scene Seminar

Event details

In this presentation I will be discussing findings of my doctoral research about the curation of street food markets in London. My research is specifically connected with the study of cultural economies and place making; I use the term curation as an analytical vehicle to describe the role of cultural intermediaries in the performance of diverse tasks like production, organization, administration, distribution and mediation with consumption to create a markets and places. This process of curation of street food markets is an interesting case to illustrate how cultural and economic decisions are intertwined in order for markets to create places or shape the experience of place. This curatorial process includes organiser’s understandings about the relationship between their markets and the urban landscape, and also practical components of the making of marketplaces; like finding venues, creating line-ups of traders according to audience, taking care of the set up (infrastructure and layout, interior design, aesthetics and sensorial elements to brand the market place), and negotiating with other urban actors, especially urban developing companies, landowners and Councils. These curatorial tasks are carried out by organisers as place makers, making use of their economic, cultural and spatial knowledge to assemble market places. This process reveals how market organisers’ working practices contribute to adding or changing value to urban places in London. Their street food markets can improve the perception of certain deprived areas or add economic value to private land or properties, enhancing the offer of development companies and landowners in London. I argue that the curation of pop up markers depicts a process of value generation in a cultural scene that is transforming places in a context of rapid change in London.