During these days in Albania I realized that through the Arts Albania and Kosovo are now more united than ever. I'd say that in this specific case Art has been more effective than politics.
But how are Art and politics connected?
When I first asked myself this question, I immediately thought of two complete opposite things such as black and white or angel and devil. I stopped thinking about it, till I got to the point where I found myself (so tired of listening to politicians) unintentionally painting something reflecting my emotions and feelings about the political situation in Albania. At this point I thought of the first thing that they could have had in common; I thought of...POWER...Both are able to touch our hearts and minds!!!
It came into my mind Nietzsche's book, The Birth of Tragedy, constructed about the duality between the "Apollonian" and the "Dionysian", where Apollo(Politics) stands for intellect, reason and control, and Dionysus(Arts) stands for the opposites of these; for intuition, sensuality, feeling and abandon.
I'd personally compare the relationship between Art and Politics to that of a married couple, where the husband is the head, therefore the decision-maker and the wife is the neck which directs those decisions.
Why should politicians use art to seduce and succeed?
Politicians see artists as a real threat, as many of them through visual and performing arts may result politically provocative, by making statements or highlighting certain issues. They know that art can make an effective political statement or that is the best promoter of social justice and subsequently impresses the public opinion more than politics.
Apparently our politicians seem to have forgotten that arts are central to our dignity. How can we attract others without our sports, music, architecture etc.?!
ART IS MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN POLITICS AT CAPTURING THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION ...SO POLITICIANS SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THE ARTS TO LEARN HOW TO ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION, INTEREST AND INTEGRATION...AND SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THE ARTS AS A TOOL THAT COULD ENRICH THIS COUNTRY!!!
