Living Life Artistically
Legend has it the peacock, that most beautiful of birds,
cries in anguish when it glances down at its ugly feet. Stretching the metaphor considerably, it could
reflect the contradictions of Pakistan – some of the world’s most beautiful
mountains and rivers, and filthy city streets; hospitable and generous people,
and selfish drivers; exquisite embroidery and drab everyday clothing; flower
garlands painstakingly strung and badly hacked trees. Daily we swing between
admiration and anguish.
For a nation that
loves poetry, somewhere along the 70 years, we lost the poetry of life. We usually cite political turmoil, economic
anxieties, poor education levels, cultural influx and a host of other equally
viable explanations. But these factors are not new to this region that has seen
at least 3000 years of invasions, colonization, wars, economic disparity and
displacement.
Our national bird is not the peacock, but the chakor. The
chakor of mythology, a modest looking bird who longs for the moonlight,
shedding tears for what is unattainable, finding some solace when the moon is
full and generously visible to the beloved from afar.
This anxious longing underpins our ghazals, televison
dramas, our political slogans, the many prayers we share on whatsapp, and even,
heavily disguised, our humour.
Metaphysics, religious salvation, political and social
justice are big conundrums that, judging by histories of nations simply evolve
rather than solve. Ordinary people
living ordinary lives only long for peace of mind, a degree of reassurance, and
even a glimmer of a pathway to a positive future.
Philosophers from the Athenians onwards have consistently
assumed art and creativity are essential to society and make grand statements
like “no thinking and emotionally
developed person can remain indifferent to literature, poetry, music, painting,
sculpture and architecture”. (Alexander Spirkin). But the reality is the majority of people,
never notice the design of buildings, never step into a gallery or attend a
mushaira or classical music evening. Yet
knowingly or subconsciously art does play a central role in our lives.
Everything we use, or wear, or inhabit, is designed. From perfume to cuisine we engage all our
senses for an aesthetic, rather than simply functional, purpose.
Having had occasion to make several visits recently to Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi, I cannot but
conclude that the calm behavior of the many patients, most of whom seem to have
come from far off villages, is to a great extent due to the beautifully
designed and well maintained buildings and grounds. I imagine they would behave
quite differently in the more chaotic and run down Civil or Jinnah Hospitals.
Art with a capital A may be located in galleries and
museums, but artfully lived lives can exist in every back lane and community. It
is more important for people to be
artistic than to be artists. John Dewey writes “ Living is itself the supreme
art; requires fine ness of touch; skill and thoughtfulness of workmanship.”
This is something
that is familiar to us all, even if it has been squeezed out of our
present lives. Terms like qareena, saliqa, hunarmandi and tehzeeb were
commonplace. Anjuman Taraqqī-yi-Urdū
republished a five volume compendium commissioned in 1941 by Maulvi Abdul Haq,
who sent the author across India to study the traditional arts and crafts listing
the instruments, terminologies and methods used. Few of us now know the difference between sadri, kamri and mirzai
waiscoats, that a jugni is a necklace designed to fit in the space between the collar
bones, that mir farsh are decorated
metal objects placed on a floor covering
to keep it in place in a strong breeze.
Yet we remain naturally sensitive to beauty and elegance
usually unknowingly. We are charmed by the elegant sweeping movement of a women
adjusting a dupatta or sari pallu on her head, or men casually wrapping six
yards of cloth into a perfect turban, weaving a string of jasmine
flowers into a plait, or singing a song about a full moon. Philosopher
Henri Lefebvre, suggests we seek life in “moments of revelation, emotional
clarity and self-presence”.
Seeking an artistic solution makes the user take active
decisions and connect purposefully with nature and society. At one end of engagement there could be Naqqash Ustad Ashiq of Multan, hand painting shrine ceilings, and
at the other a child who puts a flower
in an empty medicine bottle for Mother’s Day.
There is a need to consciously acknowledge our artistic
selves. In so doing we become both
self-aware and aware of our surroundings in a manner that we feel connected to
and responsible for, not just our personal space, but also our surroundings or
anything in our eye line. Perhaps we would not tolerate piles of rubbish
outside our homes or workspaces; we would be conscious of the aesthetic
experience of not just our own space but the context of its surroundings,
affecting and reflecting our artistic self.
“To live among beautiful surroundings and make ugly things
is more directly lowering than to live among ugly surroundings and make
beautiful things “ - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Durriya Kazi
May 28, 2018
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