Wednesday, 16 February 2011

The importance of Art

From the beginning of time art has played a crucial role in our existence… i.e. prehistoric cave dwellers recording their traditions, mythology and history on cave walls. The notion that art was initially created for a specific reason and purpose is something that has begun to interest me more and more. Art was not created as a decorative tool or for self-expression. It was a necessary part of life. It might have been religious, symbolic, literal, traditional, customary, historical or journalistic. For example, African art was mainly symbolic. Masks, pottery, figures, portraits, jewelry, baskets and clothing reflected the religious belief of different tribes.

“In civilizations that had no other form of communication, art acted as a passage of time, it is thanks to cave paintings and other artistic records that we are able to understand and learn so much from the past.” (Quote taken from my proposal for PD1) 

Which brings me to how my thematic topic was chosen…As I thought more about the above statement, I remembered one of my undergrad tutors referring to art as a visual language, and this is one of the things that I appreciate the most. It can be viewed and understood by many different people without the need of voices and in explanations in their own language. These days, art can come in any shape or form, use old techniques in this modern time or modern techniques to reflect on and re make old work. It is not only something beautiful, but a learning tool.

This is what makes it so important :)


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