| When society was on the
death throes of moral degradation Moses came down from the mountain with
the ten commandments, sculpted on stone a path to life that still holds
much truth. Here in the 21st century in the covenant of the Artist we lay
the purpose and philosophy of art.
Here are the TEN COMMANDMENTS OF
ART that I inscribed!
I. Art is Humanity
Art has to be in the service of
humans and nature. By its expressions it humanizes the world.
II. Art Unites
It emphasizes togetherness and negates
individualism. It destroys all walls and artificial materialistic barriers.
It raises the collective consciousness and knits the human fabric.
III. Art is heart
Art is the heartthrob of the human
soul, pulsating and keeping alive the cultural continuity of civilizations.
IV Art is Beauty
Art is beauty, as “Man creates in
accordance with the laws of beauty”. The state of beauty has to be established
by creating conditions, which will nourish its flourishing. It will espouse
holistic human values of love, sharing, caring, peaceful coexistence and
to respect nature.
V. Art is joy
Art celebrates life. It does not
discriminate humanity on the state of its being, color, beliefs and place
of occurrence. It beholds the goodness of the humans and promotes bondage.
VI. Art is power
Art is the embodiment of the creative
power of the artist reflecting social life and therefore it empowers and
emboldens those who behold it.
VII. Art is united
Art is the repository of the emotive
folk spirit of civilization.
VIII. Art is Childhood
Art is the epitome of childhood.
It is high fantasy, unadulterated futuristic. It is born from the womb
of the child’s imagination seeking out the pure and innocence of life.
It is playful by nature. It heralds the freedom of children from toil.
Art is a child liberator.
IX. Art is revolutionary
Art questions hitherto all accepted
truths with such fundamental notions. It critically questions the contradictions
in society; it nurtures enthusiasm and motivates change. Hence art will
negate all that is ugly to humanity, poverty, hunger, exploitation of man-by-man,
war, violence, greed, hatred and jealousy, physical and mental slavery.
X. Art is prophetic
Art is prophetic and the artist
the prophet. It brings into this world all that is new and noble.
John Devaraj is a sculptor
and artistic director of Janotsava, a Bangalore based NGO that involves
underprivileged children in cultural activities and stages plays on children's
issues. Janothsava takes its troupe to other countries in Asia, Africa
and Latin America where children continue to be employed as labourers.
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