ART is revolutionary. Artists have in fact been using their respective artistic disciplines to protest the regime of injustice and violence fostered by the Duterte administration.
After a year as Varsitarian art director, I have been exposed to the many issues in this society. We, artists, may not have covered current affairs (unlike those in the news and photography sections), but the active newsroom in the V has fostered collaboration between editors, writers, photographers, and designers, opening my eyes to the social realities facing Filipinos and the many creative ways artists and writers can express criticism and opposition.
While writers have the chance to directly show dissent through their way with words and photographers through their powerful images, us artists begin our battles from a single point of pen that transforms into a line by every stroke. We could directly show criticism, but it would likewise be needed to be carried out through evocative visuals that people could understand clearly.
It’s safe to say working in the newsroom made me realize more the power of my art. In here, I found my “artivism.”
Artivism is a revolutionary movement in which art and activism are used as a tool to voice out the opinions of an artist. It is no new phenomena since film, music, painting and theater have long been used in the Philippines as a form of public protest.
PEN American Center executive director Suzanne Nossel said artists have the ability to “take on different perspectives and to reimagine our worlds.”
“If we can agree that art’s ability to change the individual psyche is profound and undeniable,” Nossel said, “why have we activists, who are in the business of changing the collective mind, shied away from employing art directly? We favor instead the prosaic tools of letters, press releases, and petitions.”
This should be instilled in every artist’s mind. Art is more than aesthetics. Artists should be involved in social issues. Art should offer information and persuasion; it should stand as a powerful tool that appeals to the mind and heart and move people to action.
There is a danger that, with the detachment of some artists from society, they may be left clueless and ignorant of the sufferings of their fellow countrymen.
It is high time for artists to step up.
