DC can become a cultural capital too

Ed Alcock for The New York Times

Lisbon is becoming a cultural capital partly because its creatives are taking charge. A travel article from the New York Times explains:

One of the most prestigious galleries in Lisbon — along with the likes of Vera Cortes Art Agency and Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art — Luís Serpa has been a passionate advocate of Portuguese artists (including Cabrita Reis), championing their work in global forums like Art Basel and the Frieze Art Fair in London. The gallery has also shown creations by boldface foreigners like Chuck Close and Robert Wilson.

But its most ambitious project is yet to come. Next year, the gallery’s namesake owner is creating a “think tank” of international experts — urban planners, cultural impresarios — who will devise strategies for fully elevating Lisbon, at last, into a globally recognized cultural capital. A large part of his hope, he explained, is to lure creative people from around the world and “to create a cosmopolitan place where new talent can come and create in a new way.”