I think I committed what most average joes on this humble planet would consider an art
crime, at just the tender age of 10. It took place at the Louvre, one of the world’s bestknown art museums. And no, I didn’t pick anyone’s pockets or vandalise any art. My
transgression was much less bombastic. I had encountered the room with the Mona
Lisa. and I had paused at the doorway. The room was a sea of tourists, shoving crowds
and phones documenting the fact that their owners had indeed seen THE Mona Lisa ,
the world’s most famous painting! All this for a single A4-size sheet of canvas that was
hanging on the far side of this room, covered in a sheet of bulletproof glass. For a 10year-old, this was terrifying. Rather than shove my way through this behemoth
gathering of pseudo-art appreciators, I chose to NOT look at the Mona Lisa. and instead,
continue through the rest of the museums. But as I wandered through comparatively
empty halls filled with staggering amounts of beautiful works, my bubble of bliss
became punctured with the stinging question: are we losing our ability as a society to
truly appreciate art?
Around the world, art, and art education are going through a crisis. In schools in the UK
and the US, government funding cuts for arts have resulted in millions of schools
stopping art programs entirely to conserve funding. In May 2021, UK’s then-education
secretary Gavin Williamson announced plans to cut funding to arts and design higher
education courses by 50 per cent to focus on “high-value subjects” such as
mathematics, science, and technology. This devastated the art world. Such budget cuts
would further widen the income gap that could cause artists from less wealthy
backgrounds to lose their way to an education.
Even in Singapore, the arts tend to struggle. In the Journal of Social Issues in Southeast
Asia, volume 32, Terence Chong reports that Singapore’s arts have been used for
ideological and political purposes by various powers and has reported Singapore to be aand I quote- cultural desert. I am inclined to agree. I have vivid memories of art classes
where they were just an afterthought, the teachers were disheartened, and no one
learned anything at all about the Singaporean artists whose resumes were flashed on
screen. I fumed all the while that we were not learning about artists like Jean-Honoré
Fragonard, Frida Kahlo, Vermeer, and Georgia O’Keefe. It’s hard to believe that what
was once used to appease gods, frighten enemies, compel nations, and distinguish
between various cultures is now on the chopping block for supposedly lacking
importance. This indifference could not be more wrong.
Art began as old as our civilisation itself. As elders told stories around campfires and
homo sapiens’s minds first began to glow with imaginings, the first artists drew the
ancient cave paintings of Lascaux, whispering secrets of our earliest ancestors. These
were surprisingly sophisticated and detailed, proving art was one of the first indicators
of humanity’s thought complexity. Art has never been merely a collection of sculptures,
paintings and artefacts. As we moved into civilisations, it became a profound testament
to the ingenuity of the human spirit. It is a chronicle of our joys and sorrows, our
triumphs and tribulations, woven meticulously by the hands of artists who dared to
dream, to challenge, and to express the ineffable.
From the inspiring grandeur of the Egyptian pyramids, adorned with hieroglyphics that
tell tales of pharaohs and gods, each stroke, each chisel mark, is a bridge connecting us
to our past. The Renaissance, a period of unparalleled artistic fervour, gifted us
masterpieces such as Botticelli’s Venus, Michelangelo’s David and yes, Leonardo da
Vinci's Mona Lisa, showcasing the pinnacle of human creativity and skill. Furthermore,
these artistic expressions enable us to forge connections that transcend the boundaries
of space and time. They grant us the remarkable ability to empathize with the righteous
fury and profound pain experienced by figures like Artemisia, as conveyed through the
visceral, captivating Judith Beheading Holofernes, one of her most known works.
Art history draws back a curtain on the cultural kaleidoscope of our world. The vibrant
hues of Indian miniature paintings reveal the richness and diversity of ancient Indian
life, painstakingly painted with brushes as fine as a single hair. In the intricate design of
Islamic calligraphy, representations of living beings were discouraged, leading artists to
be among the first to explore the boundless possibilities of abstract and ornamental
designs.
Art also acts as a profound mirror reflecting the social and political landscapes of
different eras. In the chilling gaze of Francisco Goya's "The Third of May 1808," we
confront the unfiltered brutality of war, a stark reminder of the human cost of conflict.
Meanwhile, Picasso's iconic "Guernica" seizes the horror of the Spanish Civil War,
freezing a moment of anguish and chaos in time. These masterpieces, born from the
depths of human experience, challenge us to confront uncomfortable truths. They
compel us to engage in conversations that encourage empathy and understanding.
Through art, we transcend the limitations of language and geography, uniting us in our
shared journey as inhabitants of this diverse and interconnected world.
How could we cut something so impactful, so rich in history, culture and human
emotion from our lives? Art is necessary to remember who we are. But in a world
captivated by the rapid march of technology, the timeless essence of art faces an
unprecedented challenge. The rise of artificial intelligence has ushered in an era where
creative expression can be replicated effortlessly, blurring the lines between
authenticity and imitation. As we hurtle towards a future where the creation of visually
appealing images becomes as commonplace as a click, the nuanced appreciation for art,
its interpretations, and its profound historical significance wanes, akin to a delicate
watercolour fading under the harsh sun. And although modern artists prominently
continue to break boundaries in the art world, most people now cannot tell the
significance of a master painting or sculpture from an airbrushed photo. Here the
danger lurks, for the less people care about art, the bigger the risk of losing it to time
forever.
So let us embrace the study of art history not as a mere academic pursuit but as a
profound exploration of us: as individuals, as a society, and as a species. For within the
rich legacy of Art’s strokes and forms, we find the essence of what it means to be
human – to create, to express, and to inspire. In short, I truly believe art must once
more reclaim its place as ‘the nectar of the human soul’
thank you