The value of art
Art as a means
The means of promoting thoughts
General features of art
Artistic talent
The duty of artists
Requirements of time
Committed art
Commitment to humanity
Commitment to art
Commitment to content
Commitment to innovative ideas
Commitment to the goal
Art and religion
The definition of religious art
The direction of religious art
The Holy Quran, the peak of art
Art and politics
Political abuse of art
Art at the service of arrogant powers
Economy and art
Economy and art
Materialist view of art
The Leader’s View of Art and Artists
The essence of art – any kind of art – is a divine gift. Although the existence of art depends on the way it is expressed, this is not the whole thing as far as the essence of art is concerned. Before any expression, there must be an artistic feeling and insight, and this is the essential point. After a beauty, a subtlety and a truth are perceived, a thousand subtle points emerge out of them. Points that may be entirely obscure to non-artists are used by artists to express certain subtleties and truths. They manage to do this through the light of art that is in their nature. This is genuine art which results from an insight, a reflection of a truth and an expression.
The value of art should first be appreciated by artists, and they should respect and pay attention to the value of the precious gift they have. Respecting this gift means that they should use their artistic talent appropriately. Imam Sajjad (a.s.) said, "Your human soul is the most valuable thing. Nothing but God's promised Paradise can compensate for this soul. Do not trade it for anything but God's Paradise." Art is one of the most valuable parts of the human soul, and it should be appreciated. It should be used for the sake of God. Of course when it is said that art should be used for the sake of God, one should not immediately think of superficiality and hypocrisy.
Today art is the best means that is used by those who have a message for people – be it divine or evil. The crucial point is that when using art as a means, the orientation should be precise, clear and appropriate, and no mistakes should be made as far as the orientation is concerned. Art is used in the modern world to instill the biggest lies into the minds of large groups of people, and it would have been impossible to do so in the absence of art. But they are doing this through the use of art. Cinema is a kind of art. Television programs are another kind of art. They use various kinds of artistic methods in order to be able to present a false message as a truth. Therefore, art is a means – a precious means. Sometimes the value of this means is raised so much that it becomes as important as the content. This is because it is impossible to convey the content to the hearts of people in the absence of artistic means.
The means of promoting thoughts
Art speaks through an eloquent language. No language is as eloquent as the language of art. Neither the language of science, nor ordinary language, nor the language of preaching is as eloquent as the language of art. A lot of importance should be attached to art, and it should be glorified on a daily basis. It is necessary to select excellent forms of art. In the absence of art, ordinary words would not find a place in the mind of a person, let alone become interesting and unforgettable. Art is the most important means that can be used to promote a thought – be it right or wrong. Art is a means of expression. Art is a medium – a very important medium. One should not ignore art or the importance of promoting it. It is not right to equate art with sins, falsities and other such things. Art is one of the most prominent and valuable creations of God, and it should be appreciated. Art should be used in all affairs, even in an ordinary advertisement.
A general characteristic of art is that it exerts its effect without the speaker or the listener realizing this. Poetry, painting, singing, music and other forms of art affect the minds of the audience without them noticing. This is the best kind of effect. Allah the Exalted selected the most eloquent means of expression – namely, the Holy Quran – in order to express the loftiest teachings. Allah the Exalted could have used ordinary language to express Quranic and Islamic teachings, but He selected the most eloquent and beautiful form of artistic expression. The Holy Quran says that nobody can produce a work with a similar artistic structure, the meaning of which is clear.
Of course art is not a wealth that is gained entirely through hard work. Unless the artist has an artistic talent, he will not go beyond the preliminary stages no matter how hard he tries. That artistic talent is not the result of hard work by the artist. Rather, the artist is born with the talent. God bestows all blessings on human beings through such channels as the physical environment, heredity and other things. In order to become an artist, people have to make efforts, but even the opportunity and determination to work hard are bestowed on them by God. Artists should develop their talents to perfection.
Every artist is a world in its own right, and this is a characteristic of the artistic talent that he enjoys. If one had the opportunity to listen to what artists have to say, one would see a strange and beautiful world – a combination of joys and sorrows, a combination of wishes, worries and ideals. Art is highly precious, and its value is not solely due to its power to attract hearts and eyes because there are many things that are not artistic, but they may attract certain hearts and eyes. Rather, art is a divine blessing – a divine gift.
Art is an excellent reality, and those who have received this blessing from God should naturally take on certain responsibilities. That is to say, divine blessings are accompanied by responsibilities. These responsibilities are not necessarily religious. Many of these responsibilities originate from the heart. For example, vision is a blessing that some people lack. This blessing brings about certain pleasures and benefits, but it also puts some responsibilities on your shoulders. These responsibilities are the natural result of your vision, and it is not necessary for religion to stress this – it is not necessary to reveal a Quranic verse in this regard. This is something that the heart can realize. Similarly, there is nobody in the world who does not blame a wealthy person when he sees that the wealthy person mocks the poor or is indifferent to them. The wealthy person may say that he has gained his wealth on his own, but this is not acceptable. Whenever there is a fortune, a blessing, or an achievement, it is accompanied by certain responsibilities.
I do not have an extensive knowledge of such arts as cinematic arts, visual arts and dramatic arts, but my knowledge of poetry and novels is more than general knowledge. I have read many of the existing works. If you take a look at Russian literature, you will suddenly realize that there is a curtain in the middle of it. That is to say, there is a separating wall. There are great works on both sides of this wall which belong to both sides. But when you take a look at the works of such authors as Sholokhov or Alexei Tolstoy, you see that they have a different taste. Alexei Tolstoy is a very good writer, and he has produced excellent novels. He was one of the pro-revolutionary writers of Russia, and his works contain the taste of modern times. You see the signs of Russian nationality in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", but you do not see the signs of the last 60 years. Leo Tolstoy's era was a different era and his work was a different work. Basically, his work belongs to a different place. What shows the modern character of Russia? The works of Sholokhov and Alexei Tolstoy and other such writers show this. Therefore, the artist of every era is the person who is brought up in that era and belongs to that era. Otherwise, those who belong to an earlier era and write from memory do not really belong to the era they live in.
In order to present a perfect example of this, I need to mention a novel. I read a novel called "Heart of a Dog" which is written by a Russian author. This novel is science fiction, but it is not at all a modern work. It is a copy of earlier art. Even if we accept that it is not a copy of English, American, or French works, it is definitely a copy of the art of the era before the October Revolution. It is not the art of the current era. It is a short novel, but it is very artistic. It has been translated into Farsi and published in Iran. "Heart of a Dog" is an anti-revolutionary novel which was written around 1925 or 1926 – that is to say, during the early years of the Russian Revolution. The author of this novel protests against revolution and certain other things. He mocks them – just like some of the works that we have witnessed inside our own country. This novel is not at all part of Russian literature. It could have been propagated throughout the world. We cannot say that it was thwarted by the iron curtain of the Stalin era. That was not the case. Why did it not spread throughout the world? Why did it not become known as a prominent work in the world? This is while "Quietly Flows the Don" gained international fame. “Quietly Flows the Don" is not just about Russia – it has been translated into different modern languages of the world. That is to say, it is a revolutionary work.
Committed art
Some people say that in "committed art" there is a contradiction between the first and the second word. "Committed" means chained, and "Art" is whatever that is based on free imagination. How is it possible to reconcile the two? This is one conception of committed art. Of course this conception is not right. The responsibility and commitment of the artist is primarily rooted in being a human rather than being an artist. After all, an artist is primarily a human being rather than an artist. Human beings cannot be free of responsibilities. The first responsibility of human beings is their responsibility towards other human beings. Although human beings are responsible towards nature, the earth and outer space, their main responsibility is towards other human beings.
The artist is responsible towards both the form and the content of his works. Those who enjoy an artistic talent should not be satisfied with a low level of achievement. This is a commitment. A lazy artist who makes no efforts to improve his artistic works and come up with innovative ideas has in fact failed to fulfill his responsibilities as an artist as far as form is concerned. Artists should make constant efforts. Of course sometimes people may reach a point where it is no longer possible for them to make further efforts. There is nothing wrong with this. But artists should work as hard as possible to improve the form of art. It is not possible to achieve this commitment to form in the absence of enthusiasm, love and sense of responsibility. Of course this enthusiasm and love are part of an artist's responsibilities, which act as a powerful hand that prevents lazy inaction and encourages human beings to engage in action.
If human beings are honorable, their hearts and minds also deserve respect. It is not right to present everything to the audience simply because they are paying attention to what the artist is saying. We need to see what the artist is trying to say. Considering what one wants to say is a virtue. If I remember correctly, I once quoted Romain Rolland as saying every artistic work is one percent art and ninety nine percent ethics. To be more cautious, let us say every artistic work is ten percent art and ninety percent ethics. I realized that Rolland's comment is not a precise comment. If I were asked a similar question, I would say every artistic work is 100 percent art and 100 percent ethics. These two are not necessarily inconsistent. One should present 100 percent of one's artistic work through artistic innovation and fill 100 percent of it with content that promotes virtues and lofty and enlightening ideas. Therefore, "committed art" is a consistent phrase. Some of the people who care about artistic issues are worried that the artist may act against human virtues and ethics under the pretext of freedom of imagination and artistic freedom. This is a very important point.
Commitment to innovative ideas
The artist should consider himself committed to a truth. What is that truth? The level of an artist's intellectual capability to see this truth in its entirety or part of it is irrelevant to what I want to say. Of course the higher the level of an artist's intellectual capabilities, the better the artist can present his subtle perception of that truth. Hafiz of Shiraz was not just an artist. There are great teachings in his words. Artistic talent alone is not enough to help one gain access to these teachings. There are philosophical and intellectual requirements too. This artistic expression and perception should be supported by intellectual innovation. Of course people are not all at the same level in terms of their intellectual capabilities, and they are not expected to be like this. This is true of all artistic fields including architecture, painting, designing, sculpture, dramatic arts, poetry and music. Think of an architect who has good ideas and another architect who does not have innovative ideas at all. When these two architects want to design a building, they proceed in two different ways. If you have them build a city together, one half of the city will be totally different from the other half.
Committed art is a truth, and it should be recognized. An unprincipled person with mundane – and sometimes base and unwholesome – motives cannot go after art and become successful. This is because genuine artistic joy will come into being only when the artist knows what he is looking for and what he wants to do so that he can feel satisfied and happy with his artistic talent. Artistic joy is different from the kind of joy that ordinary people feel, and non-artists cannot feel it. In this case, the artist should pay attention to ethical values and lofty religious teachings and virtues.
Art and religion
The definition of religious art
Religious art is the kind of art that can exhibit and present religious ideals. Of course Islam enjoys the best ideals among all divine religions. These ideals are the same things that provide happiness, spiritual rights, piety, spiritual education and social justice. Religious art should not be confused with superficial and ossified art.
Religious art does not at all mean superficiality and hypocritical pretension, and this kind of art is not necessarily created with religious words. Some artistic works may be purely religious, but only ordinary and non-religious words may be used in them. It is not right to think that religious art is necessarily the kind of art that pictures a religious story or speaks about a religious concept such as spirituality and similar things. Religious art is the kind of art that can promote the teachings that all divine religions – and above all Islam – have tried to promote among human beings, and pure lives have been sacrificed to propagate these truths and make them permanent in minds. These teachings are lofty religious teachings. They are the kind of teachings that all divine prophets have made great efforts to introduce into human life. We cannot just criticize or be indifferent to the efforts of the best human beings of creation – that is to say, reformers, prophets, and selfless people who made efforts in the way of God. Religious art propagates these teachings. Religious art presents justice to society as a value although it may not even contain a word related to religion, a Quranic verse or a religious icon – these things are not essential to religious art. You can use the most eloquent words in dramatic arts to promote justice, in which case you have paid attention to religious art.
The direction of religious art
Some people think that art equals frivolity, lack of religion and promiscuity. This is wrong. The focus of attention in religious art is that this kind of art should not be at the service of lust, violence, dissipation and transformation of the identity of people and society. Art is one of the beautiful manifestations of creation. The wrong direction of art is problematic and has always been criticized by insightful people. It is wrong to channel art towards promiscuity and deception of man. Otherwise, if art is combined with the spirit of religion and a religious orientation, it will be one of the most prominent features of man.
The Holy Quran, the peak of art
The Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) utilized all the means that were available to him in order to promote this thought. He even utilized art, not just ordinary art, but the best form of art – namely, the Holy Quran. One of the secrets behind the success of the Holy Quran is its artistic form. The Holy Quran is the peak of art. It is extraordinary. The Holy Quran contains very unusual artistic qualities which are impossible for human beings to describe. If you read the Holy Quran from the beginning to the end, you will see that it is full of monotheism and enmity towards polytheism, idolatry and Satan – which is the symbol of evil. The same is true of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) words.
If the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) had spoken to people without using an artistic language, he would have definitely attracted some people, but he could not have given rise to that great storm. It is the power of art that can do such things. Artistic works are like this.
Art and politics
In the modern world politics uses art inappropriately. The claim that politics does not do this is totally uninformed. Not only does politics abuse art in the modern world, but it has been do this from a long time ago. I received a translation of a document about the Mordad 28 Coup published by the US Department of State. Of course I was about 14 or 15 years old when this event took place, and I remember very few things. I have heard a lot about the event, and I have read extensively about it, but the document that was published by the US Department of State is much more detailed. This document has been written and sent to the US Department of State and the CIA by those who were directly involved in the event. This document belongs to the Americans. Of course the operation was carried out jointly by the Americans and the British, which has also been completely reflected in the report. The part that I want to focus on is where Kim Roosevelt says when they arrived in Tehran, they were carrying a big suitcase full of articles that were supposed to be translated and published in Iranian newspapers. Roosevelt also says that they had brought with them some caricatures. Think about it: Fearing that the US may be outdone by the U.S.S.R., the CIA used all the means – including artistic means – in order to bring down a government that did not agree with them and refused to preserve their interests. They used all the means to bring down a government that was founded on the votes of the people – unlike all Pahlavi governments, the government they wanted to overthrow was a populist government that had been established legally through an election. Of course they must not have found a trustworthy caricaturist for their purpose at that time, so they brought caricatures with them. It is said in the document that they had asked the CIA to provide those things. As it happens, a book was published in Italy some years ago in which there is a mention of the CIA's art department and its different activities. This is how art is used by politics.
Art at the service of arrogant powers
Unfortunately the enemies of Islam and Iran and the enemies of our honor and dignity have been abusing art as well as other things. They are abusing poetry, painting, stories, films, dramatic arts and other kinds of art as a means to suppress virtues, destroy spiritual and Islamic truths and virtues, and develop a tendency towards materialism and material pleasure.
Cinema is a very advanced modern art, and today Hollywood is the most prominent and the most capable movie industry in the world. See what purpose and whose purpose Hollywood is serving. See what thoughts and orientations it is promoting. Hollywood is at the service of promoting promiscuity, nihilism, lack of human identity and violence. It is at the service of keeping people busy with one another so that the ruling class can live peacefully. This huge film industry has brought together tens of big film companies, artists, directors, actors, playwrights, scriptwriters, and they are all moving ahead at the service of certain common goals – namely, the goals of the arrogant policies which are used to run the American government as well. This is not something insignificant.
Although they say art should be independent from politics and political orientations, their behavior shows the opposite. The arrogant powers of the world have deployed art, cinema, films, poetry, writing, minds, reasoning and philosophy to secure their arrogant interests and plundering – the manifestations of today's capitalism. America is the military power, and the companies behind the American government are the economic powers. They are using all the available means to set models for people of the world, and the nations of the world are not capable of presenting rival models.
Economy and art
The living conditions of artists are not really good, and in many places their conditions are not even acceptable. Those who invest in arts and are committed to certain principles cannot often make enough money. It is necessary to provide economic assistance for them. If they are not assisted, they will go after something that can help them make money. As cinema professionals say, such people may go after box office success, which is not always a good thing. This factor can partly explain the tendency towards showing sex and similar things in movies. Artists should not provide the hearts and minds of youth with something that may attract them to sins and corruption. This is different from providing them with freedom and options. Emotional issues do not leave people an option. They drag people in a certain direction without giving them an option. The situation must be such that the artist can present his art without any pressure – the pressure to attract costumers – so that they can produce appropriate and perfect works.
The materialistic view of spiritual wealth has caused spiritual wealth to be measured against money in the world. How much money can this knowledge produce? How much money can this art produce? But there is a different criterion in Islam. This is not to say that Islam is reluctant to turn knowledge, art and other kinds of spiritual wealth into money. No, knowledge is a means to provide welfare. Art is a means to make life interesting and valuable. Nothing is wrong with this. But apart from this view, spiritual wealth itself is highly valuable from an Islamic point of view. That is to say, the fact that the artist has an artistic talent is itself a value from an Islamic point of view even if nobody knows about his art or nobody benefits from it. Due to lack of the necessary facilities or experience, it may not be possible in a certain society to pay money in return for knowledge, research, art and other kinds of spiritual wealth. This is undoubtedly true of our society and many other parts of the world. This should not put an end to production of knowledge and artistic works.