The word “art” is something the West has never understood. Art is supposed to be a part of a community. Like, scholars are supposed to be a part of a community… Art is to decorate people’s houses, their skin, their clothes, to make them expand their minds, and it’s supposed to be right in the community, where they can have it when they want it… It’s supposed to be as essential as a grocery store… that’s the only way art can function naturally.
Amiri Baraka (via westindians)
I don’t think Art is something the West never understood. The West has the “privileged” position of intellectualizing their art because it does not need to be inherently functional. Communities in which resources are not as plentiful incorporate art into their process and it becomes utilitarian. Its just a different point of view.
(via curatedcuriosity)
YES.
