Dustin 

Curry

Contributing 

writer

www.dustincurry.com

At the heart of the human condition is our desire for art. However, for a large portion of the world (perhaps larger than you think) the basic means of artistic expression are being withheld or quickly taken away. This trend must stop in order for society to progress.

In many parts of the Middle East, artistic expression is so tightly regulated that even the most basic forms of creative communication could spell death. It is a part of the world where political and theological leaders are so keen on limiting expression even the expressions on a woman’s face are concealed.

In 1989, British Indian Salman Rushdie learned how harsh the theocracies of the Middle East could really be. A renowned novelist and essayist, Rushdie had been causing quite a stir among Islamic communities with the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” a story inspired in part by the life of Muhammed.

On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwā requiring Rushdie’s execution and offering a bounty for his death. Rushdie has since been forced to live under protection, but triumphantly continues to write and give speeches in public.

However, artistic expression isn’t just under attack in foreign lands. Domestic arts advocates are fighting an equally important fight.

American government spending has decreased in recent years, with the National Endowment for the Arts reporting a decline of almost 8 percent in government funding for their organization. Arts programs in schools are being scrapped as budgets get smaller and educators are forced to whittle their resources down to bare necessities.

In America, artists struggle to bring their craft to the public because Americans seem to value the artistic expression less than their European counterparts. One example is in the way that both sets of people treat

their street performers.

Street performers, or buskers as they are traditionally known, are some of the rawest, most experimental performers in the arts today. By taking to the streets, buskers can develop new and exciting works without the confines of traditional arts organizations and leadership.

In Europe, Asia and Australia, buskers are celebrated for their creativity. Festivals such as the Adelaide Fringe, the Barcelona Buskers Festival and the Vienna Busker Festival are just a few of the many outlets that professional buskers can use to hone their craft.

In Paris, France, buskers can be seen everywhere, as they take advantage of the wide Parisian streets created by Napoleon after the French revolutionary period. The world’s largest Fringe festival, the Edinburgh Fringe (UK), even has a special section of its festival devoted entirely to street performers.

Buskers in America, however, tell a different story. According to BuskersAdvocates.org, there are few ideal locations for street performance in the United States. Most buskers are assumed to be vagrants or panhandlers and evicted from their pitch. Audiences in America, too, lack a preconceived notion of how to respond to buskers, and (more often than not) look on street performers with disdain.

The extreme lack of respect for buskers in the United States parallels the danger of art in America’s foreseeable future.

However, there is still hope. Many artists are finding new ways to reach their audiences, such as the use of social media and the Internet. Every day, more and more children are being introduced to the arts through their schools and families. Public Broadcasting in America continues to find support and strength in arts advocates.

Art is an essential part of being human. Creativity and expression helps children in school and opens the door to limitless communication of ideas and feeling.

Aristotle once said that “the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” When it has no limits, art can hold a mirror up to nature and show us the inward significance of us all.