Value of art Flashcards
Song ‘Glory’
“Glory” by Common and John Legend explores the topic of racism. ‘Glory’ was written for Selma, a film chronicling the Civil Rights era, but the gospel-infused song proved just as relevant in the face of the modern day ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement ignited recently by the unjust death of George Floyd. During Common’s verses on the Oscar-winning track, he connects moments like Rosa Parks refusing to sit on the back of the bus to the protests in Ferguson.
Song ‘Be Free’
in the wake of the unarmed, non-violent Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white police officer, J.Cole released the song ‘Be Free’ that contains lyrics like ‘All we want do is be free, All we want do is take these chains off’.
SOTA- Art and education
Arts can be integrated into academic subjects. This is the case in the School for the Arts (Sota). So a music student may, for example, demonstrate during physics class how the pitch of a violin is adjusted and how that corresponds to sound frequency. Similarly, dance students may apply the principles of cultural anthropology to carry out research on different dance cultures.
The Sota committee said in its 2004 report that an arts education can help students develop critical thought and creative expression, nurture self-development and leadership qualities, and also enrich their study of other subjects.
European nationalism in music
In response to the many political upheavals in the 19th century, many European composers developed a nationalistic style that defined their own countries. Antonin Dvorak, a Czech composer of classical music infused rhythms and folk songs in his 9 symphonies. He dedicated the 3rd movements of many of these symphonies to the music of Moravia and Bohemia.
Local plays and poems
Poems like ‘Forever Singlish’ by Leong Liew Geok, ‘Starfruit’ by Grace Chia; plays like ‘Emily of Emerald Hill’ by Stella Kon, ‘Cook a Pot of Curry’ by Alfian Sa’at subject Singapore’s national fabric and identity as a people to scrutiny.
The riot act
he Riot Act, which is Sebastian Sim’s second novel in English, won him the third Epigram Books Fiction Prize last year. It is told from the perspectives of three Singaporean women entangled in the Little India riot and its aftermath. In this book, the author subtly includes themes of the ugly side of our Singaporean society - our perception and treatment of migrant workers and racism. The book also touches on the LGBTQ+ theme, which is a topic often shunned by our conservative society.
value of art quote
‘ The value of art is in the observer’ - this widely-used quote by Canadian-American Agnes Martin
