Feb 13 2009
The Rice Project
One of the things that I’ve always been really interested in is how to create art, or at least do something that makes you happy- while simultaneously helping other people and making the world a better place. Sure, it’s really easy for artists to say that their art is enough, that it enriches the lives of the people around them, provokes them to think differently and in that sense “makes a difference”. Sure, that is true to a certain extent – but only for people who have access to galleries, theatres, concert halls: performance spaces that often place filters on access through tickets and even the way they are marketed. An art gallery might have free admission, but a shabbily dressed worker might feel too intimidated to enter.
Truly committed humanist artists I believe, find a way to marry ideas of artistic vision, social entrepreneurship and public outreach in their work. They make art that touches people in the conventional sense, yes, but also perhaps says something about the true state of the world we live in today, with all its attendant inequalities, injustices and forgotten stories. Then they somehow find a way to tie this to the real life situation on the ground, perhaps by tying up with an NGO or by getting a corporate sponsor involved to make a concrete improvement in the lives of the disadvantaged or perhaps to our overburdened environment.
Some photographers who are going to be on Primetime Morning this coming week,are seeking to do just that. They were involved in what they called “The Rice Project” where besides spending time documenting life of post-tsunami survivors on the Sri Lankan coast, they also distributed rice, that staple in the lives of almost all Asians.
These are just some of the moving pictures that they sent to us as part of the interview: bare feet that are testimony to the relentless poverty of the region, an almost ominous shot of the tide coming in, recalling the unprecendented natural disaster, the tired haunted look of a small boy collecting rice grains on the road that have fallen from an aid truck and most encouragingly the indomitable hope of children, many perhaps born post-tsunami, into a world that had irrevocably changed.
I don’t mean to say that all art should have some social/corporate/NGO agenda – in fact, perhaps it’s the hardest to make good art when there is some sort of interference, even if it is with the best intentions. But somehow, these photographs succeed and these photographers succeed. There is a way to make art that can change the world, even if it means being hard nosed with corporate sponsors or social entrepreneurs. And when you do get it right, the feeling must be one of the best: doing something that you love and truly making someone’s life better.
Exhibition details:
Venue: VivoCity, South Avenue & South Court
Dates: 13 Feb (Fri) — 22 Feb (Sun) 2009
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm daily
Joanne Leow is a producer-presenter with Channel NewsAsia. She is married with 2 young sons and spends her free time reading, writing, swimming, doing yoga and cooking up a storm.