Art and the State
Art is often seen as existing outside the state. In Europe
this concept emerged with the Impressionist
Movement of the 19 C which introduced the role of art for objective observation
rather than a visual expression of the religious, social or political values of
a society.
In South Asia, art separated from the state when the post
1857 British occupiers of the Mughal court dismissed the many artists on the
court payroll. All the rulers of India patronized the arts reaching a high
point with the Mughals. Not only did they gather together the best artists,
many acquired creative skills, from Akbar who was taught drawing as a child by the miniature painter
Khwaja Abdus Samad,
to Aurangzeb who learnt calligraphy from Syed Ali Tabrizi. Women of the palace, courtiers and rulers of
smaller kingdoms took a keen interest in architecture, garden design,
crafts and clothing design.
The artist was integral to all societies from the earliest
recorded human settlements, in most tribal societies and in the many empires of
the world. Islamic artisans produced exquisite architecture, art and crafts,
from Spain to India, over more than ten centuries. It is only in modern times
that the arts have been excluded from statecraft. Or so it seems.
In reality, the state establishes museums, protects cultural
heritage, engages urban planners and architects, awards outstanding artists,
musicians, poets and writers, develops
laws to protect copyright, and acknowledges the considerable contribution of the arts and crafts to the
national economy. The world trade of
creative goods and services was $ 624 billion in 2011. Some nations do
it more overtly, while others like Pakistan, in a less considered way.
Funding for the arts aimed to alleviate unemployment
during the Great Depression with
Roosevelt’s New Deal and later the WPA, commissioning public murals, music,
theatre and creative writing as catalysts for social change. NASA, the US space
agency, and Bell Laboratories, engage well known artists to promote
national achievements in space
exploration and new technologies.
The artist Thomas Moran helped create
the first national park at Yellowstone in 1872. The National Endowment for the
Arts was established in 1965 in the middle of the Vietnam war and at the height
of the cold war, to promote American Culture and preserve its artistic traditions. American
jazz musicians were sent abroad to counter Soviet propaganda. European governments spend even more on
social and cultural programmes, often amounting to half of the GNP.
In Pakistan , despite the continued absence of a national cultural policy,
Sadeqain was engaged to paint a mural at Tarbela dam and in a number of public
places. Arts councils were established
in all the major cities and a Pakistan National Council for the Arts. The PIA
Arts Academy promoted Pakistan culture internationally, a national art museum
was approved in the 70s and completed by General Musharaf. Even in Zia’s strict
Islamic era, artists received national awards.
Although today there are no Louis XIVs or Napoleons, Akbars or Jehangirs commissioning their portraits, many statesman
privately paint or collect art. Churchill, Prince Charles, General Franco and
even Hitler made fine paintings. There
is a distinguished list of creative Civil Servants, some better known for their
art such as Milton and Chaucer. Pakistan’s civil service includes art and
literary figures such as Haneef Ramay, Mustafa
Zaidi, Parveen Shakir, Qudratullah
Shahab , Majeed Amjad, N M Rashid ,
Kishwar Naheed, Omar Shahid Hamid, Syed Zamir Jafri and Brigadier
Siddiq Salik.
A government’s role is incomplete if it does not represent
the collective identity of its people , reflected equally in its economic,
political, spiritual - and creative expression.
Durriya Kazi
June 25, 2019
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