Art Against the Crisis

In times of great pandemics, in reaction to pain and loss, art has flourished.

It’s not a romantic ecstasy; it’s a fact, history collects it.

The health crisis generated by the worldwide spread new coronavirus has put the culture system in check in dozens of countries.

Cinemas, theaters, galleries, museums all closed.

Festivals and concerts called off.

The view is bleak for a sector that does not exactly enjoy great financial backing in many places on the planet.

There are still no definitive calculations on monetary losses for the institutions and companies that dedicate themselves to art in this circumstance.

But art is much more than its financial support.

There will be art as long as there are artists.

And there will be art while there are sensitive people who appreciate it, and enjoy it.

For this reason, in times of crisis - social, political, economic, health, and values ​​- artistic creation is much more than an oasis in the desert, more than just a distraction: it’s a tool for subsistence.

And it will undoubtedly be the most inspired chronicle of events.

In countries undergoing right now a very complex situation, where it has been necessary to confine citizens in their homes, artists have taken advantage of virtual spaces to promote a message of solidarity and hope.

There are thousands of initiatives in the internet and its social networks.

The most important museums have put their most valuable collections available to Internet users.

Musicians - famous or not so famous - offer concerts online.

Free access to playlists, classics of universal cinema, the best literature possible.

The major opera companies socialize a selection of their best shows online.

The idea is clear: you don't have to leave the house to enjoy the best of universal art.

You only a good Internet connection.

But that, it’s known, is not the reality of all those who have - or will have to - remain in their homes while the crisis lasts.

Not everyone has internet on their cell phones.

The great antidote against boredom — besides the TV and radio — may be reading, which is ultimately the foundation of the great cultural pyramid.

It’s time to approach the huge literary heritage, which is an inexhaustible source of wisdom and pleasure.

Books — good books — will never be scarce.

And there’s music, which, thanks to the benefits of new technologies, is — increasingly — a shared heritage.

Art and literature are more than just hobbies, but ... they are hobbies!

At the same time, they enrich spirituality.

Some believe that art alienates, isolates before the crisis and therefore does not contribute to solving it.

The truth is that culture is the  largest reservoir of humanity, one of its keystones.

And art is an indispensable part of the great cultural framework.

Against the crisis, more art.

In the face of the crisis, alternatives to promote it.

In the face of the crisis, hope.

That is what artists are all about: hope givers.