Artisans
are scattered throughout the world that have been, for generations, pursuing
art as a cultural expression while also making it a means of earning their
livelihood.
Art makes
the physical connection of intangibles to everyday life making it colorful and
more meaningful.
The
articles of common use that developed over the course of millennia for rituals
or simply for lifestyle needs, were functional and yet aesthetically pleasing.
They also helped preserve an organic way of living life.
Art has
not often been accessible to the common folk or even what are now called the
middle classes, having been a preserve of the rich and influential. Not
in-consequently, many of us never consider ourselves deserving of an indulgence,
which an original piece of art has come to mean for us.
In the
current mindset, articles of daily use are considered disposable due in large
part to their mass production and consequently – cheap cost. The production of
such articles is not necessarily environmentally friendly and their cheap
quality demands frequent replacement leading to disposal of things in the ever
growing landfills. The attitudes towards articles that mass-production
engenders, cheapens not just that article, but towards the whole class of
objects. If one considered a factory produced plate cheap, chances are slim
that one would place significant value in the creation of an artisan.
An
example is baskets. Hand-woven baskets made with natural materials are slowly
making a comeback but for the longest time were relegated to mere curiosities,
having been replaced by plastic or other such material. They were cheap and
fast and colorful and you could change them every season if you wished. But all
ended up in large pits in the earth, where they’ll still be around for
millennia, or perhaps they are floating in the middle of Pacific Ocean adding
to the area of the giant plastic island.
While
this seemingly innocuous lifestyle of keeping up with the trends and throwing
outdated materials into trash hurts the environment, it also hurts the artisans
who truly wish to create art and enjoy the process of creating.
In malls and outlets, there are numerous pieces of
bright color embroidered glittering fabric products and yet they fail to convey
the expression or intent of the artists. They were made for commercial purpose,
likely based on supply and demand worksheet, and most likely in a factory
setting. Often the designs and fabric are created keeping the customers in mind
and not the artist and in trying to meet the needs of the buyer, the
authenticity of the artwork is usually lost.
But, the creativity and artistic expression that
is enmeshed with a culturally rich life – something we might imagine as
belonging to a bygone idyllic time still lives and breathes among us in the
unknown corners.
The creative freedom needed by an artisan is
usually lacking in the mass produced hodge-podge pieces done in an assembly
line style. The artist is never allowed to reflect the emotional, cultural and
spiritual side of their being and is restricted to being a wage-earning worker,
which stunts her pride in her craft. The result is disenchantment, if not
outright disgruntlement with the whole process and the sad demise of the
artistic side of the craft.
If the
artists are reduced to workers that create products based on current trends
they have no way to share their love of art with the younger generations and
the craft will die as soon as it comes off the shelf of a high-end store in a
mall. Many fine skills that were conceived in a time before machines took over
our lives are slowly lost to us; often too expensive to pursue and don’t have a
market value that can fetch it a subsistence level price. At the same time we
as consumer spend money on faux exotic pieces without realizing that we can
patronize true art and real artisans.
In my
last post, I argued that we should follow our own heart for a meaningful living
and in this post I turn around and ask that we follow the work of artisans and
learn more about their craft, their motivation and the natural expression of
their art.
Or maybe
this isn't what your heart desires, and maybe there is peace and serenity to be
found in simply following trends, which I have yet to discover, but I doubt.
This
conversation is not about following or leading but it’s about being aware. All
realize as a consumer that the value of an item extends far beyond the
price-tag and the brand name.
Trends come and go but our relationship
with life, our environment and the well-being of our fellow humans is eternal.
It’s important to be aware of the drift we’re flowing with, as also the
currents we contribute to, as we meander towards the destinations of inner
fulfillment.
