The Place of Art in Education : Text
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The Place of Art in Education : Nandalal Bose [ 1882-1999]
If the objective of our education is total development, art training should have the same status and importance as reading and writing. But the provision that our universities make for this is sorely inadequate at present. It would seem that this is due to the general notion that art is the exclusive preserve of a few professionals and common people have nothing to do with it.When the educated do not feel any sense of shame at not understanding art, what question can there be of commoners? They cannot differentiate between a painting and a photograph. They gape in amazement at Japanese dolls as if they are great specimens of art. Garish German wrappers in red, blue and purple do not strain their eyes but give them pleasure. On grounds of utility they use tin containers in place of (elegant) earthen pitchers they can easily lay their hands on. The educated public of this country and its universities are mainly responsible for this. A cursory look at our educational scene will reveal that, while this country’s cultural life has fanned out, its aesthetic sensibilities have grown distressingly worse. The only redress for this lies in spreading art education amongst the so-called educated public, as they set the standards for the people at large.
There are some amongst us who think that art is the domain for the rich and the pleasure-loving and want to banish it with contempt from their daily lives. They forget the vitality of a work of art lies in its sense of beauty and order, not in its money value. A poor Santhal sweeps and mops his hut, stacks in order his earthen pots and tattered quilts; an educated college student keeps his clothes and things in disorganised mess in his seemingly palatial hostel room or lodging. For the poor Santhal the sense of beauty is an essential part of his life and, so, vital; for the rich man’s son it is superficial, so, lifeless. I often see our educated men advertise their devotion to art by showing framed pin-ups side by side with good paintings; I see in the hostel rooms shirts hanging from picture frames, teacups and combs littering the study table, paper flowers stuck into used cocoa tins. And for dress, I see people use the open-breasted jacket with the ‘dhoti’, high-heeled shoes with the saree. Regardless of whether we are materially affluent or not, this widespread disproportion and lack of taste is a sure indication of our poverty in aesthetic sensibilities.
Some pose the question, “Will art give us a livelihood?” Here we need to remember that just as there are two aspects to the practice of literature, one concerned with the cultivation of knowledge and aesthetic pleasure and another with professional returns, there are two sides to art too; you may call one fine art and the other functional art. Fine art liberates our mind from the constraints of sorrows and conflicts of our daily lives into a world of aesthetic delight, while, with its touch of magic, functional art brings beauty to the objects of our daily use, and to our lives, and provides us with means of livelihood. In fact our country’s economic decline has followed closely the decay of its functional arts. So to exclude art from the sphere of our needs is harmful to the economic well-being of the country as well.
Let us discuss now in a general way the remedy for this. The roots of art education lie in the observation of nature and good works of art with dedicated attention, living in close contact with them and understanding them with the assistance of men with developed aesthetic sensibilities. Each school and university should provide a place for art studies with other studies, making it compulsory. It should provide the students with time and the environment to get acquainted with Nature. Training in drawing will develop their powers of observation and this in turn will give them better insight into literature, philosophy and science. It will be wrong on our part to expect, however, that the provision of facilities for art studies in an institution will make all its students artists, leave alone good artists, like no one can become a poet by just passing a course in poetry an institution might offer.
Secondly, we should get well-qualified people to write readable books on art with good reproductions and historical texts, in ample measure.
Fourthly, students should accompany qualified teachers to museums and picture galleries to see distinguished examples of the art of the past. When it is possible for schools to take students out to play football matches, it should not be impossible to take them to museums and picture galleries. One should have to keep in mind that a direct encounter with an art object will do more to arouse their aesthetic vision than hearing a hundred lectures. Seeing good paintings and sculpture, whether or not they understand them fully, will train their eyes, strengthen their powers of discernment, and gradually awaken their aesthetic sensibilities.
Sixthly, students should be introduced to Nature’s own festival of the seasons, to see with their own eyes and enjoy the rice fields and lotus ponds in autumn, the carnival of palash and shimul flowers in spring. This is essential for the town-dweller; though, for the rural boys, pointing them out may be enough. For these seasonal festivals, one needs to declare special holidays and hold picnics and games, encourage wearing of seasonal costumes. Once the students get acquainted with Nature, and learn to love it, their aesthetic sensibilities will never run dry for, through the ages, it is Nature that has provided the source material for all artistic creation.
