The Non-Essential Artiste Part 1

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At a G20-Y20 event in Bangalore recently, I heard the who's-who of the AI industry talking of the promises that it holds and the challenges that one might encounter in the near future. That AI has begun to take over our lives is both a good thing and something to be wary of. Don't we all know that! But what stood out to me was one view that all these industry leaders agreed upon and kept reiterating. "In the face of AI, human-connect must be safeguarded and nurtured at all costs".

As an artiste, I have been shouting from the rooftops that ART is our gateway to connectedness, as have so many of my colleagues and art-inclined individuals.

Largely, the industrial world has looked upon art as just a means of entertainment for conference delegates, a way of adding colour to symposia, an hour of fun at the annual team-building event, or at the most a half hour session during health-awareness weeks. That art can impact industry, that art can impact the employee, that art can impact the very nature of work is often scoffed upon, a truth denied. This denial stems from an imagined hierarchy - for how many tangible benefits arise from art? The tangible can be quantified against metrics of performance and accomplishment. In an impatient world, visible tangible metrics are easier to grasp. Intangibles need to be savoured. Intangibles need to be experienced and assimilated. Who has the time for it? We have deadlines to meet and goals to achieve. Of what use could an 'art experience' be in a mindset steeped in revenue generation and investor godliness.

But I will continue to holler.

Art can and will impact the employee, art can and will impact industry, art can and will impact the very nature of work and workspace.



How, you ask? Over the next few articles, in the week that will be, I will have you change your mind, if you thought that art was unimportant and the artiste non-essential to your work and existence!

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