Art, Propaganda and the Tyranny of Ideology

For all its good intentions, art that tries to minister to its audience by showcasing moral aspirants and paragons or the abject victims of political oppression produces smug, tiresome works that are failures both as art and as agitprop. Artists and critics—their laurel bearers—should take heed.

Art can be an emotional trigger for larger and deeper dialogues. It can blur the boundaries between things, the boundaries between us and the boundaries between the world and self. Still we rarely see art and economy as subjects deeply unified in the same study or mechanism.

Art has a social purpose [and] art belongs to the people. It’s not something that is hanging out there that has no connection with the needs of man. And art is unashamedly, unembarrassingly, if there is such a word, social. It is political; it is economic. The total life of man is reflected in his art.