Megan Newcomb

WMST395

Art, like storytelling, acts as a voice for people and with that voice they can use to speak out on topics that they are passionate about. The difference between art and storytelling though comes down to the issues of human rights. In theory freedom of speech is a basic human right and this right allows people to speak openly and freely on topics great or small. Art does not have the luxury of being a human right as of this point and because of that it has taken on many obstacles over the decades. Art has been attacked, censored, denied, and unfunded for a long time. This is not to say that Artists don’t find a way to continue speaking out or that art has no support, but rather, that should a higher power demand it, art can be erased or taken away.

Art has acted as a voice whether for change, documentation, or expression for centuries and has played a vital role in culture and society as such. It is as common as storytelling and its uses are equally as common. Art also suffers from the same issues as storytelling, but storytelling is slightly more protected because it is a form of verbal art rather than visual art.  That isn’t to say that either are completely safe from faceless people who are in power. It’s too common for stories to be twisted, voices silenced, and personal experiences to be questioned or dismissed. This happened frequently with Rigoberta Menchu and her personal experience with human rights violations. Though she was not a visual artist, she suffered the same from of critiques and attacks that any artist would, had their work depicted a similar narrative. Rigoberta Menchu was criticized for having no real connection to the topics she talked about in her book, that her words were twisted because someone translated her book for her, and the far-right groups saw her book as a threat. It was even believed that this book was pushing out western classics in major universities and pushing leftist leaning views. People believed that she fabricated the whole story and that it didn’t deserve the recognition it received. These same people worked to discredit her, and these were people with power and influence.

These are the same sort of attacks that artists must deal with regularly should their work create controversy or draw attention. It is common that art activists face the biggest criticisms, backlash, and for some works of art specifically, physical attacks as well. These are the artists who have large opinions on the world, specifically the government, tend to raise the biggest questions, bring attention to the biggest issues, and tend to suffer the biggest backlash. Artists like; Ai WeiWei, Banksy, and Judy Chicago have all had to fight for their art and defend the messages they choose to portray. They are not the only ones, and this is not a recent development by any means. Artists over the centuries have taken on challenges and topics that most would shy away from. They have tackled difficult topics, exhibited harsh realities, and specifically pointed out human rights issues. These same artists are usually censored, silenced, and blacklisted because of their controversy.

It appears that art activism and controversy go hand in hand and like storytelling it can be painted good or bad. Free speech is protected though, and art isn’t and that is what makes art all the more powerful and weak. Art is powerful because no one has been able to put rules on it or control it but it is weak because when art is attacked there is nothing to protect or support it. Making art should in theory be a human right but this issue is easier said than done. If art became a human right, then art would be put in a box and defined. It would gain the protection it needs to avoid such extreme backlash, but it would lose its effectiveness in being a powerful voice for change. It’s a fine line and while making art a human right looks good on paper it is hard to accomplish without taking away from the art itself.

This is an argument that has been made about storytelling. There is freedom to storytelling but because there are rules or laws in place regulating what is and isn’t allowed in storytelling it can often seem that the purpose of the story is twisted or lost. This is an issue that Rigoberta Menchu face and as stated earlier in this paper her critics were quick to attack her book for these basic reasons. Whether it was the translators who helped with the novel, whether it was the style with which she told the story or whether the story is true or dramatized, these arguments have been used in the past to attack the author and her story. This autobiography I, Rigoberta Menchu is a story of personal experiences during a major human rights issue in Guatemala. The issue is very much true and very much real, but critics are quick to dismiss it because they believe the personal account from Rigoberta Menchu is not accurate or has an agenda they don’t agree with. Some people refuse to acknowledge the facts in the book because of a few things that were inaccurate. This is the same of art and it is what makes art a risky platform.

Ai WeiWei who was mentioned earlier is a very famous Chinese art activist with work featured all over the world. Despite his fame and support though, his country has repeatedly attempted to stop Ai WeiWei from making art because he talks about controversial topics. His art has made him a powerful activist and by some accounts the most powerful artist in the world. ArtReview Magazine made that clear a few years back and many have supported this idea. Its easy to support it because there is evidence behind this idea that Ai WeiWei is a powerful man. He has become the face of human rights in China not just because of his art but because of the impact his art has had on his life. Ai WeiWei has been put in jail and even been denied travel rights by the government because of his art and how it criticizes that same government. While his art and the work he does should be protected by human rights, he makes a much more powerful statement because his work isn’t protected by human rights. Its against basic human rights to restrict a person like Ai WeiWei but equally because of it his work has garnered more attention than ever.

He is one of many examples of human rights activists in art and even human rights issues being an important topic of conversation for both art and artist. It isn’t easy though to say that art should be a human right. As much as it should be and as important as it is to protect art and artist, it seems that art has a louder voice because it is not protected. Art then has the freedom of doing whatever it wants and even the consequences make more of an impact on the message the artist is trying to send. As the saying goes, even bad press is still good press. This couldn’t be more true than it is with art. The more your work is talked about the more the message I dissected and talked about. Some of the more famous art is art that was thoroughly talked about and dissected by the public.

This goes for storytelling as well.  Whether it is good or bad, if the storyteller or story itself is the topic of conversation it becomes a common household name and its something that can be referenced back to multiple times. The message is still talked about and the issue stays relevant which keeps the public eye focused on the events happening.