Do cultural pursuits in fact have any value? Are our cultural institutions like galleries and museums simply a waste of money, a drain on state coffers? Or do art and culture have substantive functions in society?
While working in and writing about the art world from 2008 to 2015 I was often told in places such as art fairs or commercial galleries that art and culture areimportant. I always nodded in agreement. Why wouldn’t I? My career was largely dependent on people believing this. That is, sustaining the belief that culture has some kind of inherent value in society. Privately, by 2014, I was having my doubts.
But the truth is, I do not believe in art for art’s sake. And I still feel that there is very little inherent value in the visual arts industry. And yes, it does display all the signs, processes and motivations of an industry. It seems to me that much of it, with its champagne and canapé events, is simply conspicuous waste. Although of course I was often contemplating this while quaffing my free champagne and being saddened by my lack of VVIP status at international art fairs.
But the culture contained in music, art, books and theatre often pushes out against a common or familiar discourse . Art, novels, plays and music are often attempts to communicate across the segregated divides. The value that culture has is that it can communicate thoughts and feelings that are not our own. It can also do the opposite and confirm prejudice or ideology. But at the very least it is communication and thought. And exposure to thought, feelings and ideas can produce benefits.
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