World We Imagine - post 1

 “Today we are redefining the geography of community and accepting shared accountability for common human values. We have the chance to extend the notion that all men are created equal to every human being on the planet. This will require global structures and products we are only beginning to imagine… Each of us in his or her own way can contribute something by thinking – and acting – like a true global citizen. We have only one world for all of us on earth, and the future really is ours to create, in a world we dare to imagine together.”

Interconnectedness. To me, this quote speaks to the interconnectedness of our world, the people that inhabit it, and all of their systems. We can’t afford to forget that the actions of one group can affect the livelihood of a whole other people, across the globe. As the spread of technology and globalisation has facilitated our interconnectedness, the notion of a singular, isolated, and inconsequential action has disappeared. From this I extract a message; every word, action, and doing matters. Therefore, I don’t believe that making the world a better place is a step by step, staircase-like, process. I think it’s more like a continuum, where, as the British supermarket chain Tesco puts it,  “every little helps”. Just like becoming a top athlete starts with daily, local practice done everyday, making the world a better place starts with our daily lives, and actions, which compound over time. 

This is why I’m at peace with “starting small”. When I was young, the thing that’d make a moment of my life the brightest, happiest, and most colourful was art. Whether getting lost in a museum or box of crayons, and drawing a whole day away, the power of art as a force for good stuck with me. This revelation only grew stronger as I grew older and realised that art could also be infused with messages about morality, life, politics, kindness, and many more possibilities. Art struck me as a vessel for progress, and today, as I witness its transformative power, therapeutic effects, and thought provoking confrontations, I deeply believe in art’s ability to make the world a better place. 

This starts with me. Today, I create and gift my own art, go out of my way to discover that of others, and collect the art that resonates with me most, in the hopes of one day having a large and virtuous artistic platform. I hope to be at the forefront of the art [world], sharing its beauty with those who don’t care for it, or who have never been given the opportunity to care for it. A single encounter with a piece is all that is needed to bring a tear to someone’s eye, or a life changing thought to their mind. I want to help make that happen, across the globe. Like JR’s work on the Separation Barrier or in Kenya and Sierra Leone, I want to disseminate art, making it free and readily available. But, this starts at the level of the daily, and the individual. Today I share my art with people and bring them to exhibitions I think they’d like. One day, I hope to curate, create, and organise these exhibitions, along with many other platforms of and for art. In both cases, however, the intention is the same; to provoke thought and emotion, in the hopes of a better, more sensible world.