Although some reggae fans are expressing enthusiasm for Bob Marley A love experience Ongoing exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London, there are other unimpressed connoisseurs of his music, who claim that the shop window is not authentic and is a poor service to his legacy.
The exhibition opened on February 2, just in time for Gong’s 77th birthday, and will run until April 18. Tickets range in price from £ 18 for a standard ticket from Monday to Thursday, while standard tickets are sold on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. for £ 24. There is also a £ 90 entrance fee for a live DJ night, while access to the VIP lounge costs £ 50 and guided tours for expert groups are £ 70.
The organizers of the exhibition have promoted it because they offer views of unpublished photos and memories of the Jamaican legend, while promising to immerse the public in a journey through their lifestyle, passions, influences and lasting legacy.
The various showrooms include Spectators, One Love Music Room, One Love Forest, Soul Shakedown Studio, The Beautiful Life space, The Concrete Jungle and Fan Art Exhibition and the Next Gen Room which focuses on Marley’s descendants.
However, writing in the Financial Times, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney described the exhibition as “a new addition to the growing ranks of so-called immersive experiences and providing a” fine, shallow immersion in the world of the Marley brand “.
In his article entitled The Bob Marley One Love Experience: waiting in vain for magiche described the starting point of the One Love Music Room as an “undecided collection of memories, which does no justice to Marley’s musical career.”
He also seems baffled by a replica of the denim shirt Marley used to wear on stage, which he said was “intriguingly donated by one of his daughters.”
“Did you buy this replica especially for the show?” he asked.
“In a nearby glass box is a damaged acoustic guitar like the one he wrote songs. Its subtitle blurs ambiguously if it’s the real instrument he used. (Turns out it’s not),” he added. his surprise.
He went on to describe The One Love Forest as a “room where synthetic grass, a smoking machine, plastic foliage, insect noise and green lighting provide a dystopian approach to the Jamaican countryside,” where smoking is prohibited. or vaping, and where those who attempt it can “expect an instant expulsion and possible police action.”
He also points out that there is a “fake tree” in the “Next Gen Zone”, later pointing out that “all the curable material provided by the old exhibits as information and interpretation is missing”.
“The omission is deliberate. Bob Marley One Love Experience aims to make us feel the lived reality of his subject, not understand him,” he said.
“Immersion means seeing the world through someone’s eyes instead of looking at it as a spectator. It could have value in this approach if done right, but it hasn’t, “he said. 50 minutes, that’s not it. an immersive and extractive experience ”.
@bobmarleyexperience We were playing all night at the grand opening of the Bob Marley One Love Experience at @saatchi_gallery #bobmarleysaatchi #placestovisit
♬ Paradise – 5 alarm music
David Katz of The Guardian in his article entitled Review of Bob Marley One Love Experience: Corporate Exhibition Can’t Satisfy the Soula play on Marley’s 1978 song Satisfy my soulhe noted that “there are moving objects and portraits on this tour that are ultimately worthwhile for the life of the reggae icon, but also ersatz recreations and shallow commercialism.”
“Apart from his date and place of birth shown on a banner on the wall, there is little valuable information about the man, although many already know the story,” Katz noted.
“The One Love Forest offers the opportunity to crawl on bags or ride a rope swing, but we are hardly transported to the countryside of Jamaica; Under the blurry green lights and the birdsong, the fog evokes disinfectant and artificial turf, the plastic plants remind us that we are in Babylon and not in the idyllic hills of Nine Mile, where Marley spent his training, “he added.
He also describes the Beautiful Life area, dedicated to Marley’s love of football and table tennis, as “a free display of the family-sanctioned Adidas Ajax third-team shoe, ironically placed” under the song’s phrase. “Don’t win the world.” and lose your soul / Wisdom is better than silver and gold, ”he said, emphasizing the struggle between art and commerce at the heart of Marley’s posthumous industry.
“As the name implies, the Bob Marley One Love Experience is not particularly nuanced, nor does it attempt to be profound; it’s a business venture that celebrates Marley as an industry success story as much as a creative force, ”he noted.
“However, the family format is inclusive (if not very instructive), and whether you are a staunch devotee or a casual listener, there is a lot to savor for an hour or two if you approach with an open mind,” he added. .
On Saatchi’s Instagram page, there were a lot of people who considered her an “amazing exhibit,” while there were some who, like the two writers, weren’t very happy with the quality, with a man describing her as “a load of inauthentic nonsense.”
“It simply came to our notice then. Like a child’s GCSE project. I was so disappointed that I didn’t talk about Bob Marley’s legendary life. Don’t waste your money “, said feefashionista, while gareth.jones33 declared:” Terrible exhibition. Almost nothing original and just a lot of canvases printed in quotation marks. It lacked any substance … “
“This is the worst exhibition I’ve been to and I haven’t learned anything. What a missed opportunity. Nothing original, no movie clips, except one in the so-called dive room which was embarrassing. Just set up for Instagram opportunities. Poor show at the Saatchi Gallery. We deserve better for £ 26 😡 “, complained carolyn0007.
Another Marley fan, Apollothamc, said the show seemed too commercialized, noting that “it doesn’t look good.”
“From commercials to European football shirts, now musical exhibitions … it’s not what Bob Marley represented and the music tells us,” he said, while Sandrajvmartin, giving him a thumbs down, went add: “The work looked fantastic and the photos were beautiful but the exhibition itself lacked soul, it looks like they had stripped him of his life, he didn’t feel at all authentic 👎🏽”.
Others disagreed with the site, noting that the Saatchi Gallery represented Eurocentric ideals, in stark contrast to Bob’s enacted Afrocentrism, arguing that the shop window should have been built in the Black Cultural Archives. “to generate revenue for black businesses and communities.”
“Why not put it in the Black Cultural Archives: Marley’s love money, it’s hard to believe Tuff Gong was her father,” said one woman after learning that the Marley family was involved in the exhibition.
“You see, how can I, as an African woman, pay money in the Saatchii gallery to see a rastaman who wanted to liberate his people through his music, my self-knowledge will not allow it? Just another locality to make us feel “equal” ffs smh, ”said talawa_001.
