The (current) significance of art

Do we need art? Is art important? How necessary is art?

It may be that as a reader you immediately have an answer to these questions – or you are wondering, just like many other people are doing at the moment, what the right answer might be. The questions are inextricably linked to what art means to you personally. Art has many functions. It shows our perception of the world and our perceptions of individual fantasy worlds. It captures the spirit of the age over centuries in order to express it using a wide variety of materials. The spirit of the age describes the general sentiment and mentality of a particular era – more precisely, how people feel and have felt. And what could capture feelings better than art?

Especially in the current time, one's own feelings are more present than ever, whether through the loss of social life as we knew it, or the switch to digital teaching. More than a year has passed since the world was surprised by a global pandemic and now we are already in the third online semester at university and heading towards the
second "Corona summer". The art and culture sector is hit comparatively harder than others and even after a brief trial reopening of museums, most have had to close their doors again.

Art can both give new hope and give a face to silent hopelessness. This creates a feeling of not being alone with one's fears, worries and thoughts. In a chaotic time of constantly changing Corona regulations and ever new problems worldwide, art creates calm and a sense of distance from one's own reality. When situations in this heavily regulated world become too much for someone, one can lose oneself in art for a moment and dream. It doesn't matter what language you speak or where you come from, art is BY everyone FOR everyone. It inspires and provokes equally. It gives courage and its significance cannot be overshadowed. Already last year, the Tagesschau broadcasts
contributions such as "Art is systemically relevant" and clearly emphasises its meaning-making function. Nevertheless, one hears not infrequently opinions such as: "Art is not important", or questions such as: "What real added value does art bring to humanity anyway?". But if not through art, how else are things to be expressed that cannot be expressed in words? Art belongs to culture and describes the creative engagement with nature and the world using various materials and media.

At this point, a poem by Max Richard Leßmann from 2020:

Art is not important
You cannot measure it
You cannot weigh it
You cannot eat it
You can forget it
But one must not be surprised
If without it
All hearts starve

Culture as a whole should, especially at the moment, not only be seen as a fun leisure activity, but should be considered as its own dimension. Culture in its definition encompasses all artistic, intellectual and self-directed achievements of humanity or a community. It is important to address it as its own dimension during the Corona period and to include it in measures. When one feels the paralysing uncertainty and tries to look forward hopefully to the time after Corona – the "new normality" – a brief escape from one's own (stuck) world would be more than welcome. An evening at the cinema, a lovely afternoon in a museum or an interesting theatre visit – these outings are missed. Is it impossible to find inspiration anymore? No, certainly not, but just as wanderlust for travel increases, so too does the desire for freely accessible art increase for many from day to day.

It would do good to see something other than deserted cafés and empty shops. Something that awakens thoughts and at the same time distracts; something that makes one question everything and shows new paths. To be able to place a filter over the sometimes bleak-seeming world now and then. To be able to lose oneself and yet feel connected, without using words. To breathe out, breathe through and let go. To feel, experience and share art. Analogue, not via the screen. Even if it is not currently possible to enjoy art in the way we might dream of, one should nevertheless not underestimate or forget its relevance.