WHY ART?

CARAVAN’s experience has shown that the arts can be one of the most effective mediums to heal our world and to creatively foster peace, harmony, and wholeness in all its forms. We have discovered that the arts can be one of the most strategic ways to build the necessary bridges between diverse peoples, cultures and spiritual traditions… enhancing understanding, bringing about respect, enabling sharing, and deepening relationships.

Art is a universal language that has the ability to dissolve the differences that divide us, for as the late Nobel Prize winning Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz said, “Art is the language of the entire human personality." As long as division has torn the human family, art has allowed us to see similarity within difference, offering a mode of reconciliation. At CARAVAN, we profoundly believe that the arts play a critical role in honoring diversity, so that communities can live and work together peacefully.

First, there is a “transcendent” dimension to art. Art can create a new pathway of understanding that transcends differences, having the power to impact us at a deep, subconscious level. Art is able to lead one into life’s deeper dimension, echoing how Anish Kapoor, the renowned British-Indian sculptor, describes his work, “I am attempting to dig away at . . . the great mystery of being. . . .We live in a fractured world. I've always seen it as my role as an artist to attempt to make wholeness.” Art invites us to re-imagine ourselves, our situations, and our internal narratives. While art is not a cure, it is a focal point. Art offers a pause, a moment of reflection. Art motivates and inspires. Art reminds us of what makes us most human.

Secondly, one of the secrets of the engaging the arts for transformational purposes, is that “art is indirect” in its approach to addressing difficult, sensitive and challenging issues. Consequently, the all too often defensive walls are not raised. As an indirect catalyst, art creates a safe and equalizing space in which to begin real dialogue, and sensitively addresses negative stereotypes of the “other,” as well as even healing old rifts. Time and time again, we have seen the words of the 14th century Persian poet and mystic Hafiz to be true: “Art is the conversation. . . . Art offers an opening for the heart. . . . Art is, at least, the knowledge of where we are standing….In this Wonderland…We are partners straddling the universe.” To CARAVAN, the aim of art is always higher than art; it can help us see someone different than ourselves for whom they really are - that they are like us. 

Thirdly, artistic initiatives serve as “encounter points” that bring people together that would normally never come together, to gain insights into the “other,” correct misunderstandings, and even alleviate fears that exist. The words of Leonard Bernstein, the renowned 20th century composer and conductor reflect the transformative power of art according to CARAVAN’s experience; “The point is, art never stopped a war. . . .That was never its function. Art cannot change events. But it can change people. It can affect people so that they are changed - they then act in a way that may affect the course of events. . .by the way they behave, the way they think."