The Artist’s Job

“Whose job is it in times like this to connect ideas, realities and people?” ~ Mwende Katwiwa

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I just came across the following 8-min talk from Rethinking Life, and its message is definitely worth spreading, especially for all kinds of artists out there.

“[I]t is the artist’s job to unearth stories that people try to bury with shovels of complacency and time.” ~ Mwende Katwiwa

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I believe in art. I believe in its significance. I believe in its capacity to stir thought and emotion, and to change people. I believe in its power to spark movements and change society. I believe in its potential to heal.

I believe in art in all its forms. I believe in paintings, music, literature, dance. I believe in sketches, sculptures, graffiti. I believe in theater plays. I believe in poetry.

By extension, I believe in artists. I believe in their capacity to tell individual stories and illustrate universal truths. I believe they have a role to play in society, and it’s a vital one. I believe they were called, and I believe they have a job to do.

Their job is to hone their gifts and use their craft to express, to inform, to send a message, to connect, to raise a protest, to start discourse, to challenge. Their job is to reframe perspective in a way no one else has thought of. Their job is to tell stories no one else has dared to.

Their job is to have courage. ♠

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“In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent. There is no time for self-pity, no room for fear.” ~ Toni Morrison

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Image courtesy of Doran [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

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This entry is part of my undertaking a 30-day challenge Matt Cutts talked about at TED2011. The premise is to “think about something you’ve always wanted to add to your life and try it for the next 30 days.” I am challenging myself to post one blog entry a day for 30 consecutive days. 

Today is Day 24.

[I’ll be away for the next couple of days, though, so I’m afraid completing the rest of this challenge will have to wait. ‘Til then, beautiful people of WP! 🙂 ]

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