Politicisation of Art Through the Ages

Art has always been an important medium of connection between people which transcends time, language and cultural barriers. It has always been a powerful tool of communication across ages and has always been intertwined or a byproduct of the politics at which time it was created.

Early evidence as ancient as the Mesopotamia or Egyptian civilisations show that the kings or the ruling class commissioned their statues and effigies to be made and displayed for the people to see every day and remember who was in power. Through sculptures, paintings and architecture, rules and regimes have always communicated their ideologies, asserted their dominance and sought to influence public perception. While the mediums and styles have evolved, the underlying purpose of using art as a tool for political propaganda remains a constant thread through history.

Art in itself has never been apolitical and cannot be seen devoid of the context. Art and artists are influenced by the surroundings they exist in. Examples of this can be seen in the art produced in colonies by colonisers like the paintings made by Paul Gauguin. A French painter who moved to Tahiti, at the time part of the French Polynesian islands to paint primitive subjects. His paintings feature Tahitian women and landscape. Another example of this is the oleographs and paintings of Indians royals painted during the colonial rule where they were painted in their traditional attire and jewellery with medals pinned onto their chest bestowed onto them by the British Raj. These portraits were then circulated and ridiculed by the press in Britain calling the Indian rulers feminized for this extravagant fashion. Their perceived femininity was stated as one of the reasons for the British to assert their rule upon them. Times and mediums changed, the Nazis used propaganda films, the Americans used patriotic films such as Marvel's Avengers and Captain America in times of war to influence the masses. In one case movies were used to incite hatred towards a community and another to increase trust in a country's army and its values. But both despite their purposes had politics in them.

There are many instances of art being used by people in power to further their agenda but it has also been a medium for the oppressed and voiceless to express their opinions especially during suffragette and Black Lives Matter movements (BLM). Graffiti is one such medium which has been used by the BLM movement to occupy spaces and imaginations of people. Chutney music an Indo-Caribbean genre of music originating from Trinidad and Tobago which is a fusion of Bhojpuri folk music and Caribbean music honours the heritage of the people who are descendants from indentured labourers. Art gives voice to the marginalized and brings them to the spotlight. In the villages of Bihar another artform thrives, the art of Sujni made by the women of the village with old cloths and sarees put together and fine needlework which illustrates stories of harvest and mean leaving for distant places to earn. The stories woven by their thread showcase the reality and struggles of their everyday life.

Subconsciously, art and the artist get influenced by the socio-political climate they exist in lent politics should deliberately not intervene in creative processes to change the artistic outcome. The interference in the free flow of ideas distorts the final product. In conclusion, art's indelible link to politics spanning elite propaganda from ancient kings to colonial caricatures and wartime films, as well as the subversive voices of the marginalized through graffiti, chutney music, and Sujni embroidery reveals its dual role as both mirror and hammer of society. This interplay underscores that no creation exists in isolation; it is shaped by, and shapes, the socio-political currents around it. Rather than seeking an impossible apolitical purity, we must champion unfettered artistic freedom, allowing art to bridge divides, amplify the silenced, and propel meaningful.