No heirloom of humankind captures the past as do art and language.
In my world, history comes down to language and art. No one cares much about what battles were fought, who won them and who lost them - unless there is a painting, a play, a song or a poem that speaks of the event.
You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and that is truer in the arts than anywhere else.
I am not a specialist but a general practitioner in the world of the arts.
As an artist I have an even more abiding interest in the compact between the Arts and Government.
In my world, history comes down to language and art.
Must we be put to shame by much smaller and poorer countries, by Ireland, France, Austria or Sweden, who have understood that a nation's support of its arts is a matter of both national pride and cultural survival?
