The Relationship Between Arts & Culture
As societies develop, beliefs and customs are expressed and vitalized as people interpret culture via language, music and dance. In addition, the arts provide a vehicle for rebellion in the face of prevailing culture (such as the rise of American folk, jazz or hip-hop music) or communicate individuality (think graffiti, or Middle Eastern poetry).
Art may reflect a particular sense of place, behavioral norms, contemporary ideas and societal change. It records a history of conditions, ideas, yearnings, and a vision for the future. The arts are ever changing, fluidly buoying up our past, describing our response to the present, and pointing out possibilities and pitfalls for the future such as George Orwell’s seminal book “1984”.
Art Imitates Life
Put quite simply, art is the magic of life. It enriches our inner lives and our emotional spheres of response to our environment. That’s all I need to know.
Why Are Art & Culture Important?
Pardon me for getting a little academic here, but I think it is important to share why culture and art are so integral to travel. They help form and develop our worldview and response to international events. Being able to mediate news stories and personal encounters with knowledge and understanding helps me grow individually and culturally.
Group Identity Marker
In preserving, celebrating and challenging our cultural identities, arts have taken on new global dimensions as societies homogenize via electronic media. In contrast however, arts also vividly display the dynamic tension between assimilation and the inherent human drive to cling tenaciously to group cultural identity.
Arts as Mirrors
Julie often comments on how excited I become in art museums/galleries. That’s because I find myself in dialog with an unknown individual, the artist. The painter or sculptor poses questions or statements and I respond at a visceral level, with joy or sadness, grief or celebration, always coming away richer and a little clearer on my own viewpoints. This response becomes a new lens thru which to interpret my experience in the world. The same is true for films, music, dance and live performances.
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