mini museums open

As part of a national effort to provide jobs and lodging to disenfranchised and homeless individuals, the Grigovian Ministry for Internal Affairs (MIA) will launch Initiative #347, also known as Curate, Create, & Cure (CC&C). Central to Initiative #347 are scores of miniature museums located in every city of this small nation that shall open their doors this weekend. Exhibits include everything from contemporary sculpture to abstract woven items, ultra-realistic oil painting, and traditional hand-crafts, as well as spaces for interpretive dance, micro-plays, and regular group therapy sessions that focus on artistic expression as a means to address underlying psychological disorder.

Up to this point, MIA has payed for Initiative #347 through a fund established in the 1950s by anonymous benefactors who cared more about helping their fellow man than hoarding riches. According to Ministry projections, both the sale of featured works and the collection of entrance fees to the museums will support the Initiative financially. Beyond keeping artistic expression at the forefront of the Grigovian cultural experience, CC&C shall provides working and living space for persons suffering the ill affects of chronic homelessness. “Studies conducted in different nations on different continents show that providing homeless persons with a bit of responsibility, a warm place to sleep, and even the smallest of incomes allowed them to regain enough self-respect for them to become productive members of society, once more,” said Dr. Villuvest Hrim, deputy minister for Internal Affairs and one of the architects of Initiative #347, who spoke with us at a performance space set up in an abandoned warehouse. “This newest Initiative will help homeless Grigovians rediscover their value to society by placing on their shoulders the responsibility of curating and maintaining spaces in which both fine and amateur works of art are on display. This is an exciting time for society.”

“I think that the size of the performance space makes the whole thing more intimate,” said 19 year-old Iyitodar Aszhesst. The young lady had ridden with a few friends two hours by bus to the western city of Pyltagrad to see a collection of micro-plays performed by a famous acting troupe. “I've never been to this part of town before. There's fresh graffiti everywhere, and although these streets look rough, and gritty, I feel safe. This is cool.” Private living spaces are integrated into each miniature museum that allow the formerly homeless access to clean water, hot showers, and a communal cooking area. (Centralized housing is provided in more densely-populated areas where integrated housing is not feasible.) Critics who cry foul about the size of the living spaces (they are barely large enough for a foot-locker, side-table, chair, and bed) generally stop criticizing when they realize how much better these albeit small quarters are to shivering through the night whilst lying under a bridge wrapped in filthy rags and discarded cardboard. “After the plays were over, we got to mingle with the actors and talk with the nice old woman who was sweeping up after us,” said Iyitodar. “Later, when I found out she had been homeless for most of her life, my friends and I started donating three times more than the suggested amount to get into shows, in order to support Initiate #347. I am working more hours at my job in order to support CC&C and taking a drawing and sketching course at a mini-museum near to my parent's house. Together, we Grigovians can stamp out the scourge of homelessness, save lives, and make art. This is cool.”

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