Poetry makes fancy castles in clouds of sentiments. These so-called high art originates in an empty mind and are more often liked by idlers. Sitting idle giving birth to such creations and going through them, just gets my goat. Apart from creations by the likes of Devekota and Shakespeare, art in all forms is generally boring, which adds to the complexities of life. The artist creates his work with one idea, but by the time his audience receives it, it has already changed in meaning. High art not only wastes precious time and resources, sometimes these also communicate violent messages that are not beneficial to society. To go through high art is only another way to boost the sale of tablets for headache. Stories of epics and the teleserials are good to watch, but no one implements them in their life. Had it been such, human history would have eliminated the problems of racial discriminations, intercaste marriages and others long ago. If they cannot be copied in real life, what is the worth of such things?

— Vivek Pandey

I believe art in its truest sense is practically dead. How can you consider anything as art, when all works of art have to pass under the limbo bar along with things like Taste and The Public Interest all tied like a tin can to the wagging tail of the sacred Prime Rate Poodle? It’s business. Art literally means creating something out of nothing and selling it. Nobody really cares about artists. They have no meaning, no lobby and no power to control the payment of royalties due to them for their material. The industrial entities that consume the art — like commercial businesses all have contracts which are basically designed to deprive the artist of all of his rights. You might find a rare “real” artist today, but when he’s got a wife and four children to feed, he’s got no choice but to join the bandwagon. Is this an evidence of human evolution? Yes. In fact, it all falls under Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest. We need money to survive and exploiting an artist’s talent for money is a clever idea.

— Nishikar Sapkota, Maharajgunj

My personal opinion is that high art is just a self-indulgent waste of time and resources. It is only an activity to pass time. One goes and sits, comes back without any conclusions. Any act which is exclusively meant for entertainment and not meant for knowledge is a waste of time and resources. What are opera and ballet and other such things? They are nothing. We earn nothing from performing those acts, and they hold no valuable lesson in our life. However, some individuals might be impressed by them and get addicted, but my personal experience tells me those are only for enjoyment and can be forgotten any minute.

— Saujan Man Pradhan

Art any type or form signifies the creativity of mind. In the olden days when there were no other means of entertainment, ballet and opera used to be the means of entertainment. But it would be injustice to limit their importance and values to just the entertainment circle in the present day world terming them a thing of past. Rather we should appreciate the artistic and creative minds that were able to recreate people of bygone era with such unique, sombre and decent acts. Today we remember Milton not because he was a Englishman but because of his unique talent that reflected in his poems. Likewise Michelangelo and Picasso are remembered for their unique artistic talent. If we go through their work and creations, we come to know about the various aspects of society of that period. Thus, the beauty of art is that it not only reflects the creativity of a person or a group, but also depicts and describes the socio-religious condition of a nation and period. From this point of view we can term art as a subsidiary of history. What history fails to reveal, art depict all in a simple but beautiful manner. It is through art we come to know how human civilisation began and developed. These are some of the grounds that make us refute the notions that high art is nothing but sheer waste of time and resources. Instead hey are great inspirers that enable each new generation to move ahead with new vision by becoming the perfect base.

— Ambika Pandey, Chitawan

Since the high art can easily enthral the minds of people, it can be taken as a medium that can assist the revolution of thoughts. One can achieve spiritual as well as material satisfaction on creating such a piece of art, while others get the same on viewing or reading and listening to that. The question about wasting of time and resources on giving attention to high art does not arise because high art always supports one’s moral and spiritual development. So the value of such art is high in human beings and it is the best medium through which one can pass on the social, political and moral evolution.

— Junga Bahadur, Kalanki, Kathmandu

In my opinion, art is not for art sake; it should represent society. It should reform social ills too. If any form of art is for pleasure alone, it is not art, rather it becomes a thing of amusement only. Art must have gist of life that can serve human life. To create a piece art, one should have a creative and reformative type of mind. When one’s creative mind creates something, that obviously has some message which can serve a purpose in our life. Art gives relief to our tense minds, promotes our creativity, enhances us to live our life more energetically. It is one of the absolute truths of life that — art that brightens our minds, gives us power to speak against suppression, is not just a self-indulgent waste of time and resources.

— Roshan Subedi

High art is absolutely the symbol of a civilised human mind. It is because of different art forms that this world is an idyllic place to live in and which makes human beings superior to any other living creature on this planet.

— Mamata Ghimire, SCHems College, Maharajgunj

In a world ridden with hate and hostility, only very few people have the power to make the entire human race smile and dissolve the boundaries. These powerful persons are no one else but artists. All forms of art be it poem or music, song or opera, ballet or fine art are the products of imagination and creation of the ever evolving fertile human mind. Godliness happens when you create because god is the creator. At that very rare diamond-like precious moment, timelessness is felt and ego disappears when you give the finishing touch to your work of art. Art inspires the hope of life. The moment when one immensely enjoys the art, it becomes an ecstatic celebration of love. Art nourishes the soul. If you have a taste for art, you’re one of the fittest people on the planet. Art will not be a great joy to the artist alone, it will also be a great joy to those who perceive them. Artists are the happiest people who discover the heaven here and now.

— Bhumigat Basyal, Koteshwor

High art plays a great role in our life. If we turn the pages of history, we find that they brought about a great revolution in the life of people. Shakespeare, the great playwright and poet of England, through his plays sought to remove the conservative and superstitious ideas of those days. So did Socrates in his time and day. These people opened the eyes of the people by making them tread on the path of progress and development. So art cannot be and is not a waste of time and resources.

— Mohan Narshingh Shrestha, Kupondole

The art carved out in the form of drawings and painting in caves traces human life in the ancient times. The Ajanta Ellora cave paintings are a definite record of the evolving human culture in a multi-dimensional spectrum. Poetry, drama, classical music, dance and multi-faceted paintings may be set in chronological sequence. All these provide us with notable benchmarks of man’s accomplishments in various geographical provinces of the evolution and divergence of the culture and its inter-linkages. Major upheavals in the sphere of natural calamities, social advancement, cultural mutations and political transformations during the calibrated historical ages can be deciphered through the available records and traditional cultural pursuits we are embedded in. It is realistically a catalogue of man, his evolving vision, trend of philosophy and nature of pursuit towards ensuring improvement of our creative activities of today and tomorrow.

— Chiranjeevi Shrestha Vaidya

High art plays a vital role in human life for spiritual happiness and living a fruitful life. However, art beyond the ordinary is something nearly everyone strives for, but very few achieve. Since the time humans have been on earth, they have been pursuing high art in various forms. It is the evidence of continuation of human mind and spirit.

— Kaushal Timila

It is definitely the continuing evolution to balance the human mind and spirit rather than a self-indulgent waste of time. I would say one might find a rich display of entertainment and even a strong subject in a art. If you are a true reader, you can discover a lot of things. Art is the branch of cultural enthnology and artistic tradition. It contains oral literary traditions, which is one of the major components in our lives. High art possess a special sensibility, which helps us to face innumerable attacks and counter-attacks for the sake of survival.

— Vilash KC, Sanepa

Yes, high art is the evidence of the continuing evolution of the human mind and the spirit. The diversity and the complexity of art helps one to think deeper for a positive development. In today’s busy world, art can be the effective medium to reduce the increasing tension and pressure.

— Raymon Giri

There are evidences that high art existed from stone age, so there is no doubt that it is an important aspect of human civilisation and part of our life.

— Rupesh Karki, Itahari

Our hustling and bustling life has urged us to change our tastes with time. High art doesn’t seem to have a significant prospect for a while now. For instance, we have simple poems (bereft of conventional constraints), short stories, provisional songs that satiate our hunger for art, contrary to the time and labour consuming sonnets, ballads, ballets, huge novels that dominated the literary world in times past. However, the monumental significance and beauty of professional art cannot be weighed against our refined primitive, provisional art. They reflect the ancient life, philosophy of life and carry on the originality and foundations for upcoming civilisations. I believe that art should address the need of the day and should be change accordingly. Yet the purpose of art should remain intact and pure. Personally I love art as I believe art is an indispensable part of our life that comforts us in our worldly sufferings and takes away the feelings of monotony and unrestrainable loneliness that haunts us.

— Sagar Sharma Poudel, Chitwan

Opera, poetry, ballets are the part of one’s life. Music and all creative activities benefits not only the mental health, but also in one’s spiritual development. The use of those kinds of means of recreation is not a waste of time but a sharpener to sharpen one’s mind as well as a step forward towards civility.

— Suniel Raj Dhakal

Rise in the materialistic living standard has seen art is loosing its charisma. Yet a true piece of art soothes our worries and pains. A popular saying goes, ‘music is the medicine for a broken heart’, and it is very applicable even today. People should care that the aura of art should be respected and the flourishing business on artistic jobs should be discouraged. Creators also should create ‘art for art sake’ and not just to meet business ends.

— Manish

All art forms have a social context. Poetry, ballet, opera uses words in their fuller potential, and creates representations that are more complete and meaningful than nature can give us in the raw. However different we may be from other members of the animal kingdom in constructing our own world through thought, insight and artistic creation, human beings also need coherence and consistency in their surroundings. In this broader sense, the history of Western art is a search for purpose in an increasingly strange and hostile universe. Since the demise of medieval theology, and the fragmentation of knowledge, the intellectual traditions of the West have attempted to find some bedrock of belief, something that is fundamental and cannot be questioned further. The attempt seems to have failed. Whatever else this century has learned, one thing has become clear — the world is stranger and more various than anything our intellectual equipment can encompass. So has grown the great influence of art in Western societies. Art is not reductive, but seek pattern, order and consistency in the very midst of variety. Poetry, ballet, opera etc may not change the world — much though Marxists insist that it should — but it can enable us to see life as a whole, with clarity and understanding.

— Nitu Kedia, Kathmandu

We think that only scientific developments indicate how much humans have progressed. But I think maintaining a balanced sentiment is a bigger challenge. Even after gaining so much success, we suffer from discontent, mental disorder and depressions. Art, music and poetry can help us rejuvenate ourselves and feel the beauty of life. It can also be a career for people with such talents nowadays. After all, a bad poet is better than a rich husband. Because all we want is happiness. So I think its very blissful to have these artistic excellence around us and we have to respect them whole-heartedly.

— Sumnima Khatri

The characteristic of art is beauty Didacticism is its other quality

The main aim of art is to give pleasure

It’s a freedom from unwanted leisure.

Art resides in a world of imagination

Reality is its destination

And its base too; don’t get caught in illusion

This drags people to confusion.

They who think art to be a waste of time

Are really very unaware of rhyme

Which is like life lacking entertainment.

Art is mirror of society and movement.

— Pavan Kumar Karna