Kathryn Westcott has an interesting piece on the BBC website today about plans for the New York Philharmonic to play a concert in Pyongyang.
While diplomatic relations with North Korea are clearly a more complicated issue than can be solved simply by music, it is worthwhile thinking about the power of art to alter people’s perceptions. Art provides an architecture within which we can discuss our similarities and our differences in a constructive manner. As it has often been pointed out, art puts a human face to seemingly alien cultures. But it also gives us a way to think about the differences between cultures and how to articulate these without falling to violence.
Needless to say, this applies beyond an international setting. One of the reasons that CAARE believes so strongly in grassroots sport and arts is their capacity to bring communities together. Self-expression in art not only allows people to find similarities with others who seemed utterly alien, but also allows them to express what makes them and their situation different to other people’s. In short, art is about a better understanding of variety and how we differ as much as it is in discovering hidden harmonies.
