Politics as art

"Should art and politics mix? Absolutely. Politics is an art and should be aspirational. Politics should never be mundane or accepting of the status quo, and neither should art." Eliza Carthy, English folk musician in New Statesman (30th June 08)

I read the quote above from Eliza Carthy from last week's New Statesman this morning and have been capitivated by it ever since. My job is focussed on encouraging ethnic minority communities in Scotland to participate in democracy and politics. Sadly, I often encounter reactions from people which highlight their disillusionment with politics and the fact that they don't see it as relevant to their lives - and we all know that this is an attitude common to all sectors of society just now.

Politics has become a discredited subject, something that only geeks or power crazed individuals are attracted to. The only time art is ever mentioned in connection to it is "The Dark Arts" of spin and media manipulation. Politics is about back stabbing, power and domination, and is a world far removed from the concerns of everyday life.

What a shame. For me, politics is the thread which flows through all of life, impacting on every aspect of our existence. I start every one of my presentations by focussing on this, by emphasising the role that politics has on our lives. Politics is the chance to change the world and change life - far too important for us not to be involved in.

Looking at it as an art form is an an exciting new way of thinking. Art is the "quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing or of more than ordinary significance." (dictionary.com) Politics is, can be, and indeed should be, all of these things. Artists seek to change the world, to share their vision and allow others to see through their eyes, feel through their emotions and think through their thoughts. All of these should underpin our politics, creating beauty rather than staid management.

Art can be controversial but it is inspiring and gets people talking - beauty attracts and motivates, whereas the boring may be reassuring but is rarely inspiring. Of course, I am not reducing this to beauty in physical terms - afterall, politics has been called acting for ugly people, so our representative bodies tend not to have many classically beautiful people in them!

However, beauty in terms of inspiration should be at the heart of our policies as a Labour Party. To create a radical centre, we need to be able to create a coalition - to do this, we need to motivate people with disparate goals and ideas. To win and to make a difference to the country, we need to do more than be conservative and boring. We need to take risks and to provoke discussion - we then need to participate in those discussions to outline our point of view and defend our principles. Maybe it is naive to believe that discussion still has a place in the modern 24hr media world, but I think we underestimate the public if we leave the control of the debate to the Sun and its ilk.

Politics as art, beautiful policy. Am I going mad? =)