The role of art and culture in shaping society.

This is with reference to the new Afrikaans film directed by Eric Kok in Kimberely.

Culture over the years has been defined in a variety of ways but a consensus is that culture is the ideas,

customs, and social behavior of a group of people. On the other side on the coin art is a form of

expression, the feelings, thoughts, and observations of the artist is embodied in his or her work. It is

through the application of art that different cultures have made a record of who they are, what their

hopes are, how they have lived throughout history. The aims of this piece of writing are to discuss how

arts and culture can be used to construct a nation of tolerance, compassion and above all unity.

South Africa is a culturally diverse nation and historically South Africans through the apartheid system

have been conditioned to live apart. There is a saying which states that a little knowledge is dangerous.

A study by Plus 94 has indicated that there is a serious lack of knowledge about the culture and practices

of other races. Among the reasons why there is a lack of interest in learning about other groups is the

fallacy that some races are superior and others inferior.

This is where the role of the arts comes in, historical the arts have been used to alter opinions, instill

values, this is how different cultures can learn about each other. The weapons we ought to use to create

the society we want are music, paintings, literature, theater and so on. The same art can also be used to

divide us; therefore, it is critical that artist understand the importance of their role in building a society

that we all will be proud of calling ourselves citizens.

What makes a healthy country are healthy people. Studies have shown that when people express

themselves through art it can help them with depression, anxiety and even cancer. And on a cognitive

level it can help to improve reasoning skills, working memory and overall academic capabilities. Because

of our painful past as South Africans (not only our past but for many the present) the arts are one way

we can use to channel our pain and anger in a positive way without the use of violence. We see daily

how people are failing to express negative emotion, just by turning the television on a news channel or

opening a newspaper we note high levels of violence in in different communities across our country. Has

our country adopted a culture of violence to resolve conflicts? Communities have come to realize that to

get the attention of the government they must engage in civil disobedience. I think this is not a culture

that we want to promote. Civil disobedience can be a good thing if violence is not used because I know

that we are more creative, and we have a time-tested weapon which is the arts.

We cannot speak of arts and culture in South Africa without mentioning the mandate of the department

of arts and culture. The aim of the department is to develop and preserve South African culture,

promote social cohesion and nation building. This should be the goal of all South Africans. It is so

important that we understand each other, and literature has given us this platform because authors

have used it to reflect how they see the world and literature reflects humanity and as stated before a

manner to understand each other. Therefore, we need to encourage people to start writing because by

doing so there will be a record of their thoughts and this will in turn enhance our efforts towards nation

building.

Pablo Picasso once said, “Painting is not used to decorate apartments, it is an offensive and defensive

instrument of war against the enemy.” It has been also used to advance propaganda, to promote the

cause of justice, and brainwash the masses throughout history. Now our task as South Africans is to used

this art form for social cohesion, let us start to paint pictures of a people living in harmony, a people that

looks on the outward different but inherent have the same values that allow them to live together as

one people one nation. This is the power the of arts it can transform cultures from social division to

social cohesion and opposite is also possible.

In my opinion music is among the most powerful forms of art, it is accessible both too the literate and

illiterate, to the rich and the poor, it knows no boundaries and it moves across cultures. The greatest

activists in history in my opinion were musicians, they used their art to rebel against injustice. Songs like

“give peace a chance” by John Lenon, Public enemy’s “fight the power”; locally we had Miriam Makeba,

Lucky Dube, the mention artists are among so many that used the power of music to impact and shape

society.

We can choose to use arts and culture for the benefit of the collective or we can use it for the benefit of

elite. We can used it to build or divide our society. The power is in our hands.

By Remigio Angelo Dingashe.