Long live art and culture the keys to human experience
- 8 years ago
How can art and culture play a leading role in an epoch obsessed with itself and the pursuit of instant gratification, narcissism and financial crisis?
Those are the central questions at the World Summit on Arts and Culture in the Maltese capital Valletta.
Kicking off the 7th World Summit on Arts & Culture in beautiful Valletta, Malta! #ArtSummitMalta ifacca ArtsCouncilMLT pic.twitter.com/DoGuLxIq4z— Jane Chu (@NEAJaneChu) October 19, 2016
The programme director is Nina Obuljen: “What we learn in international gatherings is that we in Europe know that we are going through a crisis because we fear that we are loosing some elements of our life and society that were taken almost for granted, but in other parts of the world, especially when it comes to arts and culture, where there is no cultural policy, there are no support schemes; there is no concern about the status of the artist and their value in the society.”
OwenBonnici ifacca ArtsCouncilMLT You promised us that Malta can party – and you were right! Fantastic start to #artsummitmalta #thanks pic.twitter.com/zhbiiJT5Pz— Jo Verrent (joverrent) October 18, 2016
The impact of art and culture to affect change either politically or socially is difficult to assess, but art, literature and music survive and even prosper in the most dreadful situations, like the war in Syria.
Rana Yazaji is is the managing director of Culture Resource:“It is our role to create parallel narratives to say how arts and culture could change a lot, could change what is happening in refugees camps. Arts & Culture can’t build houses for people, but it can give hope. We can create memories together and we can imagine another future together through arts and culture.”
Iranian harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani performed in Valletta, based in Prague since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he believes artists need to stand together to defend freedom of expression:
“Too often we musicians don’t really pay attention to visual art, visual artists most certainly don’t pay attention to musicians, people in dramas don’t pay attention to artists and you know, we have to realise that we have the same friends; we are doing the same thing for society, we also have the same enemies too. So, you know its important that we are supportive of each other and I think, things like this summit are very positive in that respect.”
#Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani with #VVIBE playing J S #Bach at Teatru Manoel #Malta #music #artsummitmalta ifacca https://t.co/zjFaQ7yKDA pic.twitter.com/T5uTJS7Rus— Shahidul Alam (shahidul) October 20, 2016
Marina Barham is the general director of the Harah Theatre based in Beit Jala in the West Bank.
The group emphasises human rights, democracy and freedom of expression.
She explains how art changed the life of one young Palestinian refugee: “This young man always struggled with whether to go and throw stones at a soldier or at a checkpoint, but he felt if he did that he would loose his life.
Those are the central questions at the World Summit on Arts and Culture in the Maltese capital Valletta.
Kicking off the 7th World Summit on Arts & Culture in beautiful Valletta, Malta! #ArtSummitMalta ifacca ArtsCouncilMLT pic.twitter.com/DoGuLxIq4z— Jane Chu (@NEAJaneChu) October 19, 2016
The programme director is Nina Obuljen: “What we learn in international gatherings is that we in Europe know that we are going through a crisis because we fear that we are loosing some elements of our life and society that were taken almost for granted, but in other parts of the world, especially when it comes to arts and culture, where there is no cultural policy, there are no support schemes; there is no concern about the status of the artist and their value in the society.”
OwenBonnici ifacca ArtsCouncilMLT You promised us that Malta can party – and you were right! Fantastic start to #artsummitmalta #thanks pic.twitter.com/zhbiiJT5Pz— Jo Verrent (joverrent) October 18, 2016
The impact of art and culture to affect change either politically or socially is difficult to assess, but art, literature and music survive and even prosper in the most dreadful situations, like the war in Syria.
Rana Yazaji is is the managing director of Culture Resource:“It is our role to create parallel narratives to say how arts and culture could change a lot, could change what is happening in refugees camps. Arts & Culture can’t build houses for people, but it can give hope. We can create memories together and we can imagine another future together through arts and culture.”
Iranian harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani performed in Valletta, based in Prague since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he believes artists need to stand together to defend freedom of expression:
“Too often we musicians don’t really pay attention to visual art, visual artists most certainly don’t pay attention to musicians, people in dramas don’t pay attention to artists and you know, we have to realise that we have the same friends; we are doing the same thing for society, we also have the same enemies too. So, you know its important that we are supportive of each other and I think, things like this summit are very positive in that respect.”
#Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani with #VVIBE playing J S #Bach at Teatru Manoel #Malta #music #artsummitmalta ifacca https://t.co/zjFaQ7yKDA pic.twitter.com/T5uTJS7Rus— Shahidul Alam (shahidul) October 20, 2016
Marina Barham is the general director of the Harah Theatre based in Beit Jala in the West Bank.
The group emphasises human rights, democracy and freedom of expression.
She explains how art changed the life of one young Palestinian refugee: “This young man always struggled with whether to go and throw stones at a soldier or at a checkpoint, but he felt if he did that he would loose his life.