It’s bad enough that we get sneered at for maintaining that we want a career in the arts. It’s bad enough that having an Arts degree – be it in language and literature, fine art, or the performing arts – gets us treated like a second-class citizen by our peers. It’s bad enough that finding a job in the arts is not only pretty risky, but is also extremely difficult due to the highly competitive nature of it all.
Those are all things artists have grown accustomed to. As demotivating as they all are, most of us have accepted that they come with the territory.
The cherry on top of the demoralising cake, however, is when the people whose literal job description it is to help us, support us, and encourage us, publicly turn their backs on the industry in a time when it is most in need.
If you’re reading this, and you’re one of those people that thinks the arts are not important, let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time you watched a movie? A series? When was the last time you turned on Spotify or your car’s radio during your morning/afternoon commute? When was the last time you read a good book? Or bought a landscape or portrait to hang up in your living room? If you think life would be just fine without the arts, I dare you renounce all the above. I dare you to never log into Netflix again, and to sell every single piece of art in your home, be it a painting, a statue, or even a tiny figurine.
Pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to, right?
Because we are surrounded by art. No matter how big or small, or how obvious or innocuous it may be, at least one work of art is probably within centimetres of you right now. The magnets on your refrigerator? That’s art. The ringtone you’ve become so accustomed to? That’s art. The aesthetic photos you love looking at on Instagram or Pinterest? That’s art.
We need art. A well-crafted novel can make us look at the world through a brand new lense. A beautiful painting created centuries ago has the power to make us appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. A catchy song can make you forget all about your problems at the office and help you wind down. Art isn’t just aesthetically beautiful; it’s inspiring, captivating, uplifting, deep, and so much more that I wouldn’t be able to fully describe it even if I tried.
But for a work of art to land in front of your eyes, in your home, or even in your pocket, someone needs to be working tirelessly to create it. Someone has to be out there writing good books, painting gorgeous landscapes, recording classic songs that you’ll listen to on repeat for weeks. Yes, some people choose to create art in their spare time, sitting in front of their laptops until 3am after an 8-hour shift at the office, or trying to perfect a dance routine after teaching little kids for hours at a school. But I can guarantee that for most artists, this isn’t for lack of initiative, hard work, or a ‘business mindset’. For most artists, their passion has to be put to the side because, unfortunately, people don’t want to pay for good art. In the age of Youtube and TikTok, a lot of people don’t want to pay to watch a musical live from the theatre. They’d rather stay home and watch a recorded version of it online. ‘Piracy? What the heck is that?’ But this mentality is incredibly damaging to the arts community. How can someone create art full-time when making it sell is so much harder than it should be?
In my eyes, the problem isn’t that artists are not business-minded – you practically need to be business-minded in order to sell your work and succeed. The problem is the mentality that encircles writers, painters, actors, musicians, dancers, etc. and tells them that their work is not work – it’s just a hobby. That’s the mentality that stops artists from staying true to themselves, that makes them give up or sell out. And it’s the mentality that makes being an artist in Malta so incredibly challenging.
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