2 minute read
‘All Art Is Quite Useless’
Or so Oscar Wilde wrote in his preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray. A prolific literary figure and an icon even today, the then champion of the Art for Art’s Sake movement couldn’t have been further from the truth.
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An often-overlooked artist, the illustrator, reminded us that her work, although sometimes underappreciated, features prominently in the early memory of a child. Quite literally bestowed with the power to mould the minds of the future, she stood firmly in the belief that not being critical of the world she depicts in her art would be damaging. The sociopolitical landscape we exist in today and that our successors will inherit is indeed complex and highly flawed but through her illustrations, Priya Kuriyan strives to break the cycle that is in place by being political and purposeful. She believes that art is not just shapes and colours, in fact its power is far greater than we can even begin to comprehend.
An artist that works with both games and words, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, relayed the lengths she went to in order to be able to pursue her dreams. She told us of her many unsuccessful attempts at finishing a novel and narrated the long and winding road she had to traverse. Through her speech, one thing shone through – her passion. Yearning for the day she could finally call herself an author, this artist reminded us just how much fervour a career in the arts required. To truly be great, to make a real difference, we must be able to accept setbacks for what they are – instances that shape us into the people that we are to become.
Poets, artists who use words as their medium, have been valued and memorialised throughout history, yet in our modern-day have been relegated to the background. A clear contrast, the poet Sabika Abbas, refuses to be pushed back and silenced in any and all aspects of her life. She believes that her rhythm, her stanzas, and her metrics have the power to raise marginalised communities and instil a sense of agency within them. She believes poems transform the places where they’ve been spoken and strives to tear down the walls and reclaim the spaces we deem public. Globally, as we move further to the right, it becomes imperative that we have clear voices that U21084
aren’t afraid to be heard and Sabika Abbas promises to be one of them, reshaping the world to be more equal.
An illustrator, an author, and a poet – three distinct and powerful women who share one resounding belief – Art has the power to change.
Really, art without a purpose neglects to be art all.
