Toulouse and Curiosity

As my time here in Toulouse, France is coming to an end, there have been certain things that have struck out at me. Particularly things that are not connected to school or work, but rather life outside those areas. There’s a consistent and deliberate effort to promote cultural and recreational curiosity events here: whether it is through billboards, newspapers, web and television commercials and radio ads. From events such as art exhibitions, expositions, film festivals, humanitarian awareness and many more.

The events were promoted in a way to encourage curiosity, as if to indicate that if you are in the area just pop by and see what’s happening. I started to develop the idea on whether my curiosity dependent on accessibility? If I felt I could easily access the event, my curiosity level would increase. This line of thinking was interesting to me because I have always felt that I was always curious about the world and cultures surrounding me regardless of whether or not I can get to the event. But I also recognized that my inquisitiveness grew the more my French comprehension improved. I started going to random exhibitions that I otherwise would never have considered. I went to an event about French antiques and I was awestruck by the art and antiques on display. The setting of the room, the path to view each display created a sense of going into a museum gallery specifically designed for each display. What drew me to it was the way the people told the stories and the significance of the products during those time periods.

This is something I normally wouldn’t have considered to be interesting, but the simplicity of the access and the engagement during the events introduced me to something different. My engagement started out with an effective advertisement about a cultural event, followed by determining whether I can access this event or not, then the engagement of the people at the event helped cultivate the success of the products being displayed.

I believe being here has added a different dimension of how I view the cultivation of curiosity. It has provided a new insight on how I view certain events, where they are placed, how they are promoted, and most importantly who feels that they are welcomed into these spaces.