English Version | Editor's Letter: Arts Issue, November 2023

When the dust of the centuries settles, what remains of each civilization are not its dogmas and ideologies, nor its reasons for going to war, but its arts – the symbols and expressions of the search for meaning and purpose in life are probably the most faithful and profound historical records, from a human point of view. An artist is also a kind of emotional or spiritual historian. Art lives continually; its names, its shapes, its uses and its meanings.

Marina Abramović
Branislav Simoncik

Its testimony survives unchanged, in all that matters, through the ages. Even in times of crisis, violence, and generalized chaos like the ones we are experiencing. It survives governments, creeds and societies, even the civilization itself where it emerged. And it can never be completely destroyed – that’s what will be found again, when the ruins are removed. Human life can be pure chaos, but one of the powers of Art is to take these different pieces of things, things that seem irreconcilable, and put them together in a “frame” to give them some kind of form and meaning. Sometimes, we understand very little of what is happening to us at a given moment and only after some time are we able to look back, experience the consequences, and finally understand what an event really meant, and what it was trying to teach us.

Giulia
Branislav Simoncik

The daily routine of most adults is so heavy and artificial that they end up closed off from much of the world. Art is one of the most powerful forms of rescue. When we listen to music, poetry or stories, when we contemplate a painting or get lost in the movements of a choreography, the world opens up again. “We are drawn inward – or outward – and the windows of our perception are cleansed,” as William Blake said.

Avery Richardson
Alessandro Esposito

True Art disturbs us, wakes us up from our routines, creates new reserves of hope and new perspectives, recovers our ability to discover beauty where we no longer recognize it. Artistic creativity is personal, passionate and immersive. And true Art resonates with the viewer, not just the creator. Painting and poetry, music and dance, design and fashion... all forms of Art define who we are as a society and provide an account, dark or light, of our history, for the next generation. Without culture, and without the freedom of expression that it implies, society becomes a self-destructive jungle dominated by censorship. Genuine Art has a courageous soul, which dares and challenges, seeks the truth and cannot be silenced or cancelled. This is why any authentic creation is a gift for the future.

Kirsi Pyrhönen
Élio Nogueira

And the future is a blank canvas, with unlimited possibilities... painted by all of us.

Translated from the original in the Arts Issue, published November 2023. Full stories and credits in the print version.