Arts Naivety

I was watching a dance documentary by akram khan and he said something that triggered me to write this blog. He mentioned something about how being in the arts may have affected his naivety to violence and the dark horrors of the outside world.

And that struck a chord with me, don’t get me wrong. I am not stupid or naive- I graduated in journalism so I have an interest in the news and the world. However when it is  sad or stressful news (like this year) I have gone upstairs to be creative and block out the world around me.

I don’t see that as being naive, I see that as being strong and clever and in touch with myself. Putting myself first and looking after my mental health. Being creative really helps me do that. 

I have said before in this blog all of the creative things I have been doing in lockdown and it has really helped me. 

I also think of another side of arts naivety in that most plays/ pieces of art/dance- anything that I covered for Culture over the years has often been based on the news, politics and dark topics. 

If anything being involved in that has actually educated me and forced me to research and have an opinion  on a subject matter.  Often when I watch political performance it can help me understand what is going on, through the medium of art, I am able to get more of what is going on and I see that the art has broken down the story so I can formulate an educated opinion.

So for me, I don’t think art has made me uneducated of the news , if anything it has made me more aware of the world.