Art is all around us, but does it have measurable benefits, and might it help educate and improve our society?

Do we need arts? What do they achieve? What role might they play in a future planet?  Most of us listen to music, watch films or look at pictures at least once or twice a day, but rarely consider the societal impacts of such commonplace things.

It only really takes a moment to understand how pivotally art is linked to culture, learning, community or conflict. From February 16 to March 12, the Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery is presenting an exhibition and symposium highlighting the iraqimemorial.org project.

It’s an online project launched in 2007, inviting creative artists and architects from all over the world to propose memorials, to commemorate civilian deaths in the war in Iraq.

Part of the symposium will engage the public in creative discussion regarding the development of memorials to war, the artist's role in a time of war and the practicalities or pitfalls of activist, political gestures.

Poverty, AIDS, sexuality, all these crucial human elements can be explored through art. It can offer a way to educate, discuss and approach. The very earliest human settlements bear artistic traces of our ancestors. We learn from an early age through song. For whatever reason, this appears something of importance.

Painting pictures

In 2006, Washington based National Endowment for the Arts released a study called The Arts and Civic Engagement. Based on findings from the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the study revealed that people who participate in the arts are people who help make communities thrive.

It found those who participate in the arts also engage in positive civic and individual activities, such as volunteering, going to sporting events, and outdoor activities at significantly higher rates than non arts participants.

‘The personal decision to engage with arts events or literature appears, in many cases, to reflect a larger drive toward civic and social involvement,’ reported the follow up 2009 research note.

Andy Kyriakides works for Visiting Arts, which works to strengthen international and intercultural understanding through the arts. He explains just how vital this is. “Arts contribute in many ways, especially internationally where arts are used by Visiting Arts to strengthen intercultural dialogue between countries where normal methods of diplomacy are limited.”

“Artists that take part in these types of programmes act as ‘ambassadors’ on a global scale, giving a unique experience for them. Poverty? The arts have a unique perspective which can get a message across about these global issues whilst avoiding the facade of ‘being told’, see our 1mile2 project for an example of this happening.”

“This is a community based project set in the context of the UK and abroad where international artists work with those communities to highlight issues related to the environment whilst working with a local ecologist.”

What can the arts do for our ethical or personal perspectives? “Arts can give a message in a variety of different forms, whether it is visual art, performing art, literature and the like.” he continues.

“In many respects arts also appeal to the mind in an aesthetic way where a factual summary would fail to do so. For every question there will be more than one answer, and certainly more than one way to deliver that answer.”

“With the rapidly expanding form of digital media, this palette has expanded even more, and if the learning covers more than just one way, it will reach more people who can respond in different ways”

Culture of convenience

But the National Endowment for the Arts suggests young adults, from 18 to 34, show a declining rate of arts participation and civic activities. Yet we know that arts can extend cultural understanding of differing races, societies or countries.

“A lot of art can go past political boundaries and can penetrate cultures in a non intrusive or aggressive way, thus having the power to break down boundaries and strengthen intercultural understanding.” agrees Kyriakides.

“A lot of this is done face to face, but more and more interaction is taking place online, the boundaries between countries are starting to soften and the arts can provide a safe and constructive environment for this to germinate.”

Is it too strong to say that arts can alleviate poverty or suffering and create jobs? “Personally, at the moment it is. Arts, like any form of interaction, needs to be participated in.”

“What the arts can do is provide a place for positive action in these areas to grow, this won’t happen without sufficient investment, but once that’s in place, it can certainly give rise to a clearer global understanding of these issues.”

“The key to our work is not just to work internationally, but to strengthen those ties.” concludes Kyriakides. “This is why we work with countries like India, China, Iran, South Africa and the Middle East rather than countries that have already strong relationships with the UK.”

“In fact, currently we are one of the few organisations who have a working, strong relationship with Iran.” There’s a seeming irony that art helps communicate where politicians and fraught negotiation over nuclear arsenals or terrorism cannot.

Building dialogue

Some argue arts can even help define our political and economic boundaries. “Art is about opening a dialogue and is something where views and opinions are all allowed to happen and are valued equally,” suggests Richard Higlett, Artist, Curator and Librarian of Artists Resource Cardiff.

“This is at odds with a capitalist notion where one thing has to be better than another, one football team must beat another, PC is better than Mac, my car insurance is cheaper than yours, and artists simply don’t think like that so are at odds with a materialist culture.”

“It is important that when defining the arts we see them across the range of benefits and levels of value they bring,” he continues. “One of the difficulties art has in a limited transactional society, is that it is not about an ultimate dialogue, it is not about a definitive answer.”

Higlett imagines over the next 30 years, artists might become advisors, paid a wage alongside others as a new society becomes globally, value and issue based, with these issues expressed creatively to develop more empathetic understanding.

“Art is important for developing opinions and open dialogue, respecting other people’s values and opinions and creating an environment for collective change.” he argues.

“Does society care enough for these voices to be heard?” he asks. “Artists working, embedded in the creative development of a fairer global society are the way forward. Artists can be involved in work that raises awareness of global issues and many do. While thousands of artists are commenting and observing, the media’s agenda is based on power and ugly betterment over empathy.”

From February, Global Heritage Fund (GHF), is undertaking a five year program to preserve Ciudad Perdida and surrounding archaeological sites in Colombia. Ciudad Perdida represents a monumental example of the ancient Tayrona civilization that flourished in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Art seems at the heart of such anthropological heritage, and there’s no doubt art should be among the heritage saved. Maybe there’s a need to concentrate more fully on what it might do for today’s society.

What are your views?  Not sure? Read the resources below for more information. Add your comment below. We welcome your thoughts and proposals. Not a Planetary Citizen? Sign up to Our Future Planet now!

Resources:
The Arts and Civic Engagement: Involved in Arts, Involved in Life
Art-Goers in Their Communities: Patterns of Civic and Social Engagement

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