We had to close the physical venue of TheSpace2 last week. Of course we are sad, but we are not devastated. TheSpace2 is a concept, a collection of history and interactions and intentions, not a physical location. There was a venue before this one, and there will be more venues in future. In the meantime, we are keeping the spirit going with livestreams three times a week on instagram (thespace2vancouver at 7pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and we wanted to give a bit more information about the donations we mention during the livestreams.
At the beginning of each livestream session, we put out the info that if anyone would like to support theSpace2 we are accepting PayPal or etransfers. Now that the physical venue is closed, we want to clarify a couple thing about why we are still accepting donations.
Any donations that come help cover the cost of clearing out of our recent venue and setting it to rights, the storage fees for our equipment (tatamis, bamboos, etc), and the eventual expenses of reopening and rebuilding, especially things like the wooden frame system which has to be build from scratch at each new venue.
Also, and no less importantly, we believe that art in all its permutations and expressions deserves support. We have found, in our experience, that things (art, information, experiences) are usually treated more seriously and given more consideration if there is an effort or cost (not necessarily financial) associated with acquiring or experiencing them. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that things that are given away free are often treated as though they have less value. Not by everyone, and not in all circumstances, and ‘cost’/‘free’ does not necessarily mean ‘money’, but there is enough of a trend in enough situations that it makes a difference to the treatment and consumption of art and experiences in general. All this to say, please don’t break the bank over us, we realize that everyone’s financial future has a question mark hovering over it, and we do not want anyone to make that question mark bigger in order to help us out. We state the opportunity to donate, not the requirement or the expectation, and we would continue to do the livestreams even if we never received a single donation, because they are not contingent on donations. Likewise, we would continue to offer the opportunity to donate even if no one ever took us up on it, because we believe in the principle of supporting a culture that supports art. This is why we say that donations are never expected but always appreciated.
Thank you and stay safe!
Much love,
Barkas & Addie
TheSpace2