How
can Art of all things, possibly save us from doomsday (and when I say
“Art”, I mean art in its various guises of course: literature,
music, dance, theatre, cinema, painting, sculpture, drawing,
architecture and so on)?! I believe the man-made climate crisis is
being exacerbated and accelerated by our lack of solidarity and the
waining of morality; can Art really help us stem the tide? Well,
yes is the answer, it can help...
Artists
can raise awareness of the dangers of pollution, the destruction of
biodiversity, the harm we cause to the fauna and the flora. For
example: photos which show emaciated polar bears lost on the melting
ice cap can shock people into feeling concern for their plight and to
support a charity like the World Wildlife Fund.
Artists
can make us aware of the consequences of human activity on the
environment through protest songs, in documentary films, through
street murals, political cartoons, sculptures, protest banners and
slogans, etc. Art can inform, inspire us to act, give us hope...
Art
can also convey the necessity for us to act together. Indeed,
nowadays, people are more individualistic than before; they only act
for themselves and don’t think about the consequences of their
actions on others and on the world in general. Art can bring people
together in a common cause, because if enough people are moved and
challenged by a work of art (on an environmental theme), if their
curiosity is raised, be it in an art gallery, during an Arts class,
on a visit to a museum, on TV or radio, or just in the street, they
will share its message, comment it, discuss it, be inspired to come
up with ideas to act, become committed to a cause that tries to make
the word a better place...
Art
is especially powerful as a means for children to learn about the
state of the world; it will help them become more open-minded and
responsible; they will think about how they act on a daily basis and
how the adults around them behave. If they discover Nature through
cultural activities they will be more inclined to want to protect
the planet, surely?
Art
encourages us to see the world differently, to perceive the
extraordinary and find joy in in the ordinary. Eric-Emmanuel Schmidt,
the French philosopher who wrote “Lorsque j’étais une oeuvre
d’art”, said: “L’art aide à vivre” (“Art helps us live”)
and I think that it is so true, don't you? Through art we learn to be
amazed, to see how wonderful life can be, to appreciate the planet as
a beautiful work of art in itself.
What
did Fyodor Dostoevsky, the writer and philosopher, mean when he
wrote: “Beauty will save the world”? By
“the world” Dostoevsky, back in the 19th
century, meant people. I
think human
beings strive to exist because they see meaning in beauty and a sense
in trying to preserve it. Our planet is surely the ultimate work of
beauty and therefore needs, literally nowadays, to be preserved. So
many of us have lost our sense of awe at the beauty of the world that
our lives feel meaningless. Artists have a vital mission: to give us
back meaning through beauty, thanks to their works of Art, and so the
will to exist and to cherish the world on which we depend...
