Does art have the power to influence the world?
“Changer la vie” is a phrase borrowed from a poem by Arthur Rimbaud. It has long been an ideal for poets and artists who believe in the ability of creators to shape the world they inhabit. An artist attentive to reality will sooner or later feel the need—and the duty—to acknowledge the social and political events unfolding around them. The question of the artist’s role in society is particularly pressing for anyone who rejects art for art’s sake, and even more so the idea of retreating into an ivory tower, impervious to the cries of the outside world.
Our era is profoundly marked by wars, occupations, acts of terrorism and racism, heightened nationalism, insularity, mass displacement and other calamities that fill the daily news. Brexit and the election of Donald Trump add a further layer of anxiety to the leap into the unknown brought about by the triumph of narrowly defined identities.
