KARACHI: It was an interesting evening at the Arts Council on Saturday where artists and art critics delved into a discussion about what being an artist means and whether art schools can really produce “good artists”.

They were speaking at a panel discussion titled “Art and art institutions: do good art institutions create good artists,” organised as part of the World Culture Festival Karachi.

It was moderated by Shamama Hasany, a visual artist currently teaching at the Arts Council.

Artist and educator Meher Afroz while discussing what it means to be an artist said that defining that in precise terms was difficult.

Role of art institutions, individual talent discussed at culture festival

“However, it is having a deeper awareness of yourself, of fellow human beings and things around you that can be called characteristic of great artists,” she said, adding that it’s also important to know one’s cultural and literary tradition. And if these things are not there, an art school can’t help much in shaping a good artist,” she said.

She added that it was not the case anymore that people from a certain class or social background were involved in the field of arts.

“Youths from diverse social backgrounds are interested in art. And they have an understanding and awareness of what and why they want to do what they’re doing, unlike the past where art was largely a field for the elite,” she said.

Doda Baloch, another artist, was of the view that art institutions are not of much significance in the case being discussed.

“There’s a difference between what Greeks called techne [skill or technique] and arete [virtue or excellence]. An art school can teach the former but not the latter. That’s something an artist naturally has. Through virtue he can grasp not just the beautiful but also sublime,” he explained.

He then criticised modern art academies. “A boy from Balochistan went into a certain art academy in the country. As he had lived among sheep and goats in his native place and spent time them, he naturally liked to portray them in his paintings but the people in the academy told him to leave the sheep and do something ‘modern’. That was wrong,” he added.

Art critic and artist Quddus Mirza said first it was important to note that there’s no defined criterion for a good and a bad artist. “That’s a purely subjective matter. And artist is an artist. He/she can be good for one person and bad for another.”

Delving into an idea similar to ‘Negative Capability’ put forward by Romantic poet John Keats, Mr Mirza explained that “nevertheless, an artist is a good human being in the sense that he/she has tolerance and acceptance of diversity and holds doubt over his/her own self and has an ability to negate the self.”

As for the role of art academies, he said they were important inasmuch as they assist artists in developing those characteristics.

Similarly, art critic Asim Akhtar was of the opinion that an art school provides an encouraging environment, a platform. The role of a teacher/instructor is also important, he said, as a teacher nurtures students’ talent, inspires them and helps them hone their creative skills and artistic sensibility.

Discussing the role of modern art academies, the speakers appeared to agree that the focus in those institutions is not art but money-making, which is something regrettable.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024