The Value of Art
All this got us pondering, “What is the value of the Arts to a child?”
‘‘L’art pour l’art”, translated “Art for art’s sake”, is a philosophy often attributed to Theophile Gautier (1811 – 1872). It espouses the intrinsic value of art and argues that art need not serve any moral or utilitarian purpose. Others such as African writer Chinua Achebe (writer of Things Fall Apart who recently passed away in March) have criticised this view as empty and euro-centric.
We don’t intend to jump into the fray on this debate. Instead, what we have observed is the wonderment and excitement the Arts bring to children. It allows children to keep their minds open to the world of endless possibilities and escape the bounds of ‘un-creativity’.
While rules, structure and rigour have their place in a child’s growing up years, these should be balanced off with invention, imagination and the tenacity to dream. And that, to us, is the value of the Arts to a child.
