The Relevance Of Art In Today’s World

The arts gave new meaning to life. We may live in a concrete world where almost every physical thing we see is defined but the arts allowed us to express our inner creativity and raw talent through various artworks and art pieces. These masterpieces often ignite powerful emotions within the people who see these works of art aside from them being visually appealing to the eyes. While some use the arts as an escape from the daily grind, professional artists make a living from the making of these beautiful art pieces.

The art today is a luxury that the elite often indulge in. Artworks are expensive and the common folks can’t afford such luxuries in life. Many of us do not understand the real value of the arts and how it has helped mold the society that we now know of today. So, it no longer comes as a surprise that funding for the arts is among the first to go when the government needs to tighten its belt and manage its finance better.

One of the great paradoxes of human endeavour is why so much time and effort is spent on creating things and indulging in behaviour with no

Politicizing The Arts

The arts have always been a medium where people can freely express their talent and individuality without conforming to any structured guideline. While there are different art variations, all artists are free to put their own flair to it in as much as they want. We often think of the arts when we see artworks and intricate art pieces often displayed in museums and galleries but music and the performing arts are other forms of arts as well.

Despite the freedom of the artist to express his/her artistic craft, its diversity is influenced by his/her culture, religion, environment, upbringing, etc. Even with music and the performing arts, you can easily identify the performer’s ethnicity among others during a performance. While arts should be a neutral territory, we often hear about political issues affecting the arts nowadays. Does this really make sense or is the arts also an expression of the current political climate at any given time?

The protests started almost immediately after the presidential election. An artist named Annette Lemieux emailed the Whitney Museum and asked that her installation Left Right Left Right — a series of life-size photographs of raised fists turned into protest signs — be turned