For decades, the arts have been seen as the Cinderella of the educational world – fun for sure but not really ‘useful’. Economically, so the argument goes, that while art subjects may be interesting, they did not really add real value to the world. For that, we needed to look to the sciences, mathematics and engineering – subjects where people could create useful products.
Yet when the pandemic closed the country down two years ago, what did people miss the most? Going to shows, concerts, gigs, plays, galleries, museums, the theater and the cinema. And we entered what has been widely acknowledged as a golden age of television, with literally billions of dollars being invested in high quality productions across both traditional broadcast networks and the new streaming platforms, all eagerly lapped up by an audience desperate for entertainment and escape from the harder realities of Covid life.
While there is no doubt as to the huge benefits provided by the ‘useful’ subjects – after all, they helped create the technology for us to enjoy our entertainment in our homes on – the pandemic has helped us see the arts anew. And if one good thing emerges from Covid, it should be a new appreciation for the arts and the value they bring to us – not just financially for the economy but for our mental wellbeing.
It is no coincidence that people have been keen to renew their relationship with artistic performances of all varieties as pandemic restrictions have been eased. We need the arts in our lives – and music in particular is an essential form of human expression. Whether through song or instrument, music is a unifying experience that can speak to us on an individual and spiritual level, while simultaneously creating strong bonds with our fellow people.
And this revaluation of the importance of the arts in our lives is set to go much deeper than just consumption of the arts – as listeners, viewers or spectators – but as practitioners. The extra time we have been forced to take at home during lockdown has helped many of us reprioritize our own lives and led us to want to try new outlets for our personal expressions, to pick up long abandoned hobbies and to have a go at things idly dreamed of but never actually tried.
It must be hoped this new spirit of trying and experimenting to feed our artistic soul is here to stay – and one of the best ways we can do that is to pick up an instrument. Just because you may not have the skill or indeed the interest in becoming a concert performer does not mean you should deny yourself the very human experience of trying and learning and improving, of giving yourself the deep pleasure of acquiring a new skill and of sharing it with others.