Social media allows a platform for ordinary people to express their opinions. Many go further and share the actions they have taken in the social sector such as the Robin Hood Army or Roti Bank, Fixit and Transparent Hands

However, it is also true that shelves of university libraries and research centres are filled with amazing studies, reports and inventions that rarely cross over into the world of policymakers or manufacturers. A lot of intellectual activity becomes an end in itself.

In his paper ‘From Thought to Action’, Jonathan Dancy asks whether theoretical reasoning can lead to action. Or does it only create a set of beliefs and intentions? Even if action is not the intended result of thoughtful reasoning, at least it needs to be shared outside the inner circle with the aim to inspire action.

Philosophy and art are expected to play a quieter role as influencers are rarely expected to turn their observations into direct action. The music and film industries, perhaps because they already have a public presence, have played an important role in changing public opinion and urging action. Musicians Bob Geldof and Bono head a long list of musicians and actors who have been recognised for the work they have done to mobilise international action to address poverty, famine, HIV/AIDS, victims of war and the environment. In Pakistan, Shehzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust has created model government schools. Musicians Salman Ahmed and Attaullah Esakhelvi are an important part of Imran Khan’s political party. Some actors joined politics to further the cause of art, such as Melina Mercuri, the Greek actress who as a minister of culture worked tirelessly for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

The “just do it” principle cannot, however, apply to all art. The process of assimilating art and acquiring the expertise to produce a work of art of great value is a slow process.

Literature has shaped public perception, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s personal experiences in The Gulag labour camp of the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, defining the horrors of war.

While there are many examples of how politics and social conditions influenced art, there are fewer examples of visual artists influencing politics and policy.

Jacques-Louis David became a powerful figure during the French Revolution, using his paintings to define the values of the revolution, joining Robespierre’s Jacobites and even voting as a member of the National Convention for the execution of Louis XVI.

Edi Rama, the current Prime Minister of Albania, was an artist before he became a politician. He started his career in politics as mayor of Tirana, and one of his decisions was to paint drab buildings in bright colours. He noticed the mood and behaviour of local people had changed, less litter was thrown on the streets and people began paying taxes. In Karachi’s district of Lyari, Kiran School also painted the facades of a street with bright colours and they have remained well-maintained.

In all societies, art and politics have had a close, if often oppositional, relationship. From the Greek and Roman eras, artists were engaged to document important political events, produce sculptures or portraits of the ruling classes, or spread religious teachings through paintings and sculptures. More direct propaganda art dictated moral values in the 19th century or was commissioned to whip up public emotion during the Russian and Chinese revolutions and the two World Wars.

The ’60s and ’70s saw the birth of the art of resistance and art activism. Happenings, public art events and, later, graffiti brought art out of the gallery into the public sphere. However, they remained responses to politics, changing policy only to the extent of greater funding for community arts. The real role of art in public spaces is perhaps in developing communities, creating opportunities for emotional growth, respect for diversity and directing viewers or audiences to nuances that define individualism.

Alana Jelinek, in her book This is Not Art: Activism and Other ‘Not-Art’, suggests that art is locked in its role of protest, raising awareness of issues while ignoring the “agency” of the artist and the ability to engage directly with society. Increasingly, art is equated with other types of academic disciplines such as sociology and is now considered an integral part of the education system.

The “just do it” principle cannot, however, apply to all art. The process of assimilating art and acquiring the expertise to produce a work of art of great value is a slow process. Expertise appears effortless, but behind it lies hours of training of the mind. A child is said to take an average of 1,000 tries before he or she learns to walk. One has to instill what the Japanese call kaizen (the desire to improve) that turns the novice into an expert. This, of course, applies to expertise in any discipline, but art not being an exact discipline is more “thought in action” rather than “thought before action.” It does not have a prescribed pathway to expertise. Sometimes thinking itself is action. Community-based arts that are more spontaneous and tolerant of different levels of skill, occupy an art space that is very different from the art produced in a studio, but is a significant interface between art and society.

Hannah Arendt believed, “Acting in the public space is essential to a fulfilled human existence, because we must care for the world, which we inhabit and share with others.”

Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist and heads the department of visual studies at the University of Karachi

Email: durriyakazi1918@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 23rd, 2018