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ARTISTIC FREEDOM
BY: DR. T.K. JAIN
AFTERSCHO?*OL

Freedom is essential for developemnt. But

freedom cant be absolute. Artists and creative
people thrive on freedom. They must be given
freedom. There must be guidelines, which
must be followed. Artists are able to change
the world with their imagination, ideas and
creativity. If they are moving in right
direction, they can bring improvement in the
society - if they take the reverse direction,
they can destroy the culture and the
fundamentals of the society. We can witness
the power of this in our day to day life. In the
recent print advertisements or visual
advertisemnts, you can find the power of
artists, where for the sake of a few money, they have decided to kill the social fabric. In
many print advertisements, the copy designers, have forgotten all social values and in
order to grab the attention of people, they have used obscenity and discarded all moral
restraints. Who is going to put a check on them? They are considered the champions of
the society. There are many writers, who are writing such material, which is only selling
for its debasity. There are painters, who are trying to project nudity and gain cheap
popularity. Ther eare movies, which are rated as adult movies and are not appropriate for
joint family settings of Indian culture. We have to raise fundamental questions
sometimes. Is the money so important – that artists don’t care for prevailing social values
and culture. We shouldn’t be fundamentalists – but if we are too liberal, we might dig our
own graves. It is not the question of fundamental right – but it is the question of
preservation of culture, civilisation and social fabric.

Artists are using their power of imaginations in many formats as :

1. advertisements
2. articles

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3. stories
4. novels
5. pictures
6. films
7. documentaries
8. packaging
9. dance
10. music
11. other forms of creative expressions
in most of the sectors, we find that artists, are trying to gain popularity by sacrficing the
traditions of restraints exercised by their predecessors. Being a democratic country, we
are sometimes too liberal - but we are ignoring that these artists have the power to
change the society. If we ignore their power and let them do what they want ot do for the
sake of some sponsors or supporters, we are sacrificing the interests of the broader
society against the narrow interest of a few sponsors.

We should not forget, our country inherited one of the riches culture in the world – which
reached its present form after thousands of years of artistic contribution. It is easy to
destroy it – difficult to preserve it or develop it further. Traditions in India have always
been conservative, careful and cautious. There is merit in this. Let us remember, it is
easier to destroy – but difficult to build.

We can gain a lot from the West – particularly in technology, science, and humanitarian
values. But so far as culture and moral values are concerned, we need not look at them.
We still have some of the finest cultural practices in the world. We have to rediscover
them. We still have some of the finest artists in the world – who work with spiritual
objectives, devotion and surrender to the god almighty. We can learn from them. Western
influence on our art can appreciated so long as it doesn’t break our fundamental and core
values regarding our society, human values and integrity. Let the West learn from our
rich art culture and heritage. There is nothing wrong if we ask artists to frame their code
of conduct – so that the extremes are stopped – which are sometimes moving towards
degrading the society.

We organised a group discussion on artistic freedom and its implications. The ideas are
shared by youth. The ideas are as under:

P : It is representation of internal imagination of an artist. It is visualisation of spirit. It is

representation of inspiration. There are controversies about the level of artistic freedom.

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 Contact Dr. T.K. Jain (91-9414430763) regarding starting AFTERSCHO?ÆOL centers in
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It should not be restricted. An artist doesn’t bother about social conventions. Recently a
great artist painted a goddess in naked form – this should not be there – but otherwise the
artists should be free to draw their imagination. If there are restrictions, they will not be
able to work with creativity.

P2: ours is a democratic country – there should be freedom for a person to express out his
ideas. However, this freedom cant be without limits. If your art work hurts others feelings
– there would be misconceptions.

P: the logic behind these controversial paintings is that they want to make a fame.
Contoversial things create a fame for them. They want to gain publicity. It is necessary to
check these kind of initiatives. Being a democratic and secular country, there must be
freedom for ideas and expression. However, moral values of the society are equally
important. In the slumdog millionnaire movie, there are many questions, for which the
answers are debatable. There are also controversies regarding display of poverty of India.
However, these are illogical objections.

P2: These controversies are just a part of publicity propaganda. In our past also, we have
seen many instances of artists presenting nudity or some other issues. It is only a
publicity stunt. There are many movies, which have been banned by governments – they
are not encouraging art. An art work is for entertainment, ideas and for our development.
P: Art must be for spiritual development. The ultimate goal of art is not physical senses –
but the real goal is spiritual development. Therefore restrictions on art will curtail their
creativity. Political parties are making issues of these matters. I think this is not
appropriate. Politicians are just trying to catch the emotions of the people. They are not
promoting art. If there is a great movie – people will benefit by watching it. A art is only
a representation of the reality – with the primary goals of entertainment, development,
and sensitisation. Common people go to theatre, or to exhibitions of art to develop
themselves. Living in democracy means that we should be free to express. If there are
restrictions on expressions, we will not be able to develop.

R: there should be artistic freedom. The artist should assess himself – what is right or
wrong – what will be the impact of the art on persons – the artist should assess the
implications of the artwork. As my friends have said that art is mostly banned due to
political reasons – this is not fair. There are good movies which are banned by
governments just due to some parochial reasons.

P: our artists cant show their exact creativity due to many reasons like restrictions, censor
board – these issues curtail the creativity of the artist. Artists only try to project their
imaginations and try to entertain people with their imaginations and also bring some
values with those creativity.

AFTERSCHO?» OL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP –

Let us Change the World – www.afterschoool.tk
Join PGPSE along with CS after class 12

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 Contact Dr. T.K. Jain (91-9414430763) regarding starting AFTERSCHO?ÆOL centers in
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entrepreneurship. Promote social entrepreneurship, join PGPSE and become a social
entrepreneur. Email us: afterschoool@in.com

P: there are great artists, who made tremendous contribution – when there were working
–they were not liked – but today we recognise them. History and future cant be predicted
easily. If some person is interested in obscenity, there are many options. But what is the
point in bringing restrictions on artists.

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Let us Change the World – www.afterschoool.tk
Join PGPSE along with CS after class 12

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