Before the 1979 Revolution, the sultans had used art in line with their illegitimate goals. Art was oppressed in the old system because it was separated from human values. Those who relied on force and wealth sought a means to keep their government stable. Art was doomed to serve the goals of bullies and oppressors thereby justifying their actions whenever necessary and contradicting the values.
Undoubtedly, art, like all the beautiful manifestations of life, has been abused by tyrants in various ages to serve their temptations of power, wealth and human egos. However, despite the efforts made by the ill-wishers to take advantage of this divine gift, they will never be able to destroy its grace and true value. An artist who could see the facts with his keen eye, scrutinize them and transform them into a unique form in his miraculous creative mind when looking at the reality of life in society, he finds it full of absurdity, corruption, cruelty, violence, toil, ignorance, prejudice, worldly desires, and fantasies thereby considering wealth, lust, and material life as the most valuable goods of such a value system. Therefore, the artist had to either submit or remain isolated or be pushed in the direction that the political power wants. There were many artists who though “did not officially follow the domineering rulers, yet practically submitted to their will. Thus, art has a truly regrettable history.”
In the late 1950s and during the 1960s, when theatre and cinema gradually merged with left tendencies, the anti-religious scene became more prominent. It should be noted that after the promotion of the clerical movement in 1961 the domineering system sought to take advantage of and approve any anti-religious tendency, even the left, to counter the spread of revolutionary Islam among the young generation.
During the years before the victory of the Revolution, art was somehow isolated because it was not in its original channel and platform. It does not mean that we had no art. Because in any case, there are always those who try to do the right thing and behave properly, yet the expression of art in society was not like this. Art was in the service of the ones who had power and wealth. All the tools of art and the sources of artistic creations of human beings, from every gender and class, were serving the ruling apparatus. However, following the Revolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, most of the themes and artistic trends changed.
Nonetheless, in the previous regime, art was in the control of those in power and effectively had fallen into decline. But after the victory of the Revolution, the function of art became prominent mainly through the emerging talents of the young artists. Many of the famous artists we see nowadays are from the young generation of the post-revolution period. They are those who attained self-confidence either during the war or in the Revolution and were drawn toward revolutionary art. Therefore, the activists in this area were mostly youth who started working at the beginning of the Revolution; also, some were artists of the pre-revolution period who welcomed the Revolution; however, unfortunately, many preferred not to accept the message of the Revolution thereby refusing to use their art in the service of the Revolution. In general, since 1979, art has played a great role in various fields and all kinds of arts including the performing arts, poetry, etc., have been involved in outstanding and great works, and subsequently, under the supervision of revolutionary artists, young people interested in art were brought up.
The Necessity of Sublime Art Combined with the Rich Content and Form
Undoubtedly, art as a tool is the most expressive, eloquent and practical means of communicating and promoting the message. Art is a way of expression. However, it is more expressive, precise, penetrating and lasting than any other means of communication and expression. By taking into account each of these several interpretations one would be able to understand the true meaning of art. Any message, call, revolution, civilization or culture, either true or false, will not be able to have influence, be promoted and be permanent unless it employs art as a framework.
There should be no doubt that the Revolution needs art, and since the art of the Revolution must connote new concepts, should be involved with all conflicts and hostilities that no revolution is immune from, and should institutionalize the new knowledge and teachings in the minds, it must inevitably be a distinguished, noble and progressive, or in other words, sublime art.
Art is the most beautiful format for all new messages and the reason for the spread and influence of these messages within human hearts and souls, and knowledgeable artists have always been able to convey the highest and most noble human knowledge to the next generations. A committed artist “does not utilize his creativity except for addressing values, and this is the true perception of the most subtle manifestations of the human spirit.”
The artist should be considered as the most expressive language for conveying noble ideas, and encouraging the committed artists of the society as well as nurturing them should be considered as a fundamental responsibility. However, the artist has duties both with respect to the form of art and also the theme. A person who possesses outstanding talent in a particular art should not be confined to low levels. This is a commitment. An artist who does not strive for the excellence of his work and creativity has not fulfilled his responsibility concerning the form of the art. The artist must constantly strive. Of course, a person may reach a point where he would not try more, but he should always seek to improve the form. This commitment to the form would not be realized except with having a feeling of passion, love and responsibility – of course, this passion and love is also a type of responsibility; it serves as a strong force that drives a person to do something and does not let the feeling of laziness stop him from working.
The Islamic nature of some works of art depends on their content, such as playwriting. Theatre and other arts that entered our country in the last half-century, i.e., during the time of exile and condemnation of Islamic values and an all-out attack on them, were naturally based on a non-Islamic foundation and spread in a direction contrary to Islamic teachings. The Westernized people who sowed the seeds of these basic fields of art in our Islamic country were completely alien and perhaps hostile to Islam. Therefore, they gradually arouse the idea in the minds of everyone, especially the new generations that theatre and cinema have a non-religious and anti-religious nature and cannot and should not be used to present Islamic messages.
However, it should be noted that Islamic art is fundamentally different from that of Muslims. Islamic art is often misinterpreted or misrepresented as the art of Muslims. If a Muslim makes a song or a movie, that is the work of a Muslim, but it is not necessarily Islamic. Islamic art is that which contains a constructive element of Islamic thought. In other words, there should be Islamic elements in the form, in addition to the content. Therefore, the artists should look for the settings and framework of Islamic art.
The function of art does not merely rely on the content, rather the form is also of importance. A beautiful thing seems ugly when it is put in an ugly form, and in order to create a beautiful form in the field of art, only talent is not enough, education is also necessary. Artists who see the power of teaching artistic principles in themselves should rush to help young people. All forms in the art are God’s gifts that should serve His creatures and carry divine lofty ideals.
Of course, these characteristics belong to the kind of art that its artistic structure is strong, i.e., it would really be art, because if it is not so, it will neither convey the message nor would be preserved. Beauty has attraction without which no one would pay attention and consequently realize the content or theme. Therefore, there should be innovation in language, type of expression, beauty, and if necessary, style and form.
Art and the Revolutionary Artist
Today’s art in Iran is the art of resistance, not that of submission and compromise. This kind of art is the main condition of awareness as well as courage in the face of the brutal invasion in which all means are used to suppress and humiliate the Iranian nation. The remnants of the art of the taghut era, of which the submission to the cultural invasion of foreigners was the main spirit and characteristic, cannot play a role in the building of the revolutionary art and culture of this time. When revolutionary literature passes the current process of growth and excellence, it could become a new model for the literature of this age. The ideal image of life and illustrating the ugly and beautiful parts of today’s man as well as drawing a path that leads a person to comfort, salvation and true excellence, belong to an artist who has experienced and engaged in a divine and popular revolution and a transcendent value system in which the sanctity of divine revelation is prevailed. Of course, revolutionary art is still young and inexperienced. This young nature and newly grown sapling grow gradually. Accordingly, all artists should seek to make this young sapling fertile and flourish not as a duty outside of inner inspiration, but as an artistic and moral duty.
The expectation of the Revolution from art and artist is based on an aesthetic view. During the eight-year Holy Defence, a nation especially the youth went to the battlefield and welcomed the sacrifice for the value that existed for them. Of course, they left mainly to serve religion; yet, some may have made sacrifices to defend the homeland and the integrity of the country. However, in the greatest dramatic works in the world, the audience admires and praises the sacrifice of a human being. When an artist portrays the life of a revolutionary individual or a selfless soldier in a film, song, or painting, it will be admired. Therefore, thousands of events far more valuable and bigger than what is shown in this work of art happened during the Holy Defence and the Revolution itself. Art cannot ignore such phenomena. This is a reasonable expectation that the Revolution has from the art.
The art that is presented today under the name of Islamic art and revolutionary art expresses the prestige and characteristic of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution, thus it should always be in good shape both in terms of technique and content. The Islamic Revolution is permanent because it enjoys divine guidance and popular support, and, therefore, the art should be utilized to deepen its values. The artists should use artistic tools to remove impurities so that purity and piety will be promoted in society. Accordingly, comprehensive and constant work should be done in the field of art education and culture and the officials in the government should provide all necessary facilities for the growth and education of artists and art researchers. In addition, artists should try to deepen the theme and content of their works so that they can express, promote and strengthen this holy thought and the pure spirit of today’s world, i.e., the Islamic Revolution, based on the patterns of Iranian development and progress. A Revolution that, like an innocent spirit and thought, emerged within an impure world of wrong thoughts which relied on the ideas of colonial and anti-Islam countries.
Reference: Proceedings of the 10th Congress of the Pioneers of Progression
Archive of Culture and Art
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