2023-10-30 20:04:17
Ahmed Mostafa
Art plays an important role in the culture of peoples and nations, and its history is an important indicator of the rise and fall of civilizations. The influence of the different arts and their historical significance varies according to the different forms of creativity, but in their entirety they are the backbone of societal cultural formation. Therefore, the famous saying was: “Art is the mirror of people.”
Art is nothing but the result of the collective creativity of talented people in a group, under certain social, political and economic conditions. Some types of arts emerge at certain periods, while others disappear, but they do not disappear no matter how much they decline. The art of sculpture, painting, and plastic arts, in general, which were prevalent centuries ago and preserved for us a human history parallel to narrated and political history, may give way to “fast” and entertainment arts, but they remain present.
Saying that art is the mirror of the people does not mean that the various forms of art reflect the actual reality in its entirety, even if some artistic trends are described as “realistic,” as in cinema, and others. Because art, by its nature, transcends reality, through imagination, anticipation, metaphor, etc. But it also depends on what the artist experiences in his surrounding environment in place and time, in all its details.
When you look at the statues and drawings that are filled with the squares and churches of Rome, and go back to the era of the Roman Empire, you may conclude that that era in which its artists created was the height of progress and sophistication, in its place and time. But this is not necessarily the pure, audited historical truth. Sometimes high art is an aspiration for what is better than reality, and an expression of the human aspiration to transcend reality to what is better and more beautiful.
This is due to the ongoing controversy, sometimes with raw populism and massive political and propaganda projection, about the role of art and artists in what is happening in our region now. This actually dates back to before the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinians, but it has become an even more hot topic now.
The artists defend themselves by saying that their role is not a direct “struggle,” not even with slogans, as the demonstrators do, to encourage and express anger. Some believe that their art has an “entertainment” role that should not stop, even in light of war battles, killing, destruction, and fires. There are those who believe that art has a role in any conflict, that the feather is like a gun, the pen is like the sword, and the song is like the anthem of the soldiers on the fronts.
This is a controversy that did not begin today, nor decades ago, but rather extends over centuries, perhaps since man created art during his life on planet Earth. Human lives have evolved from some arts, from some artists’ imaginations great leaders have derived their thinking about a path to the future, and from science fiction novels what has motivated inventors and scientists to discover and innovate.
At the same time, there were arts that “comforted” tired groups who were suffering in their time and place, even if some later described their role as negative, which contributed to their decline under the banner of entertainment.
Yes, art is not far from the lives and conditions of peoples, and even all of humanity, but it is not subject to a “five-year plan” to produce painting, poetry, music, and drama that “serves the goals of the stage.” Nor is it, as some have been claiming, for a long time “one of the enemy’s tools to numb and distract the people.” Art, in the end, is creativity, and it involves a great deal of talent, not just acquired study.
As for the creative artist’s position on contemporary issues, in his time, place, and human surroundings, that is another matter. In this case, the artist is only a human being like us, who takes positions for and against, enthusiastic and passive, etc. This is not a judgment on the art itself.
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