Usually, art is considered as the presentation of human creative skill and imagination to create a pictorial form such as painting, sculptures etc., which are valued for their aesthetics and emotional connections to a culture or life forms.
‘The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance’ said by the Aristotle. I can say confidently that art is one of the valuable inheritances of a country and culture. In the developing countries, like India, the governments should invest more in art as it is the heritage of nation. From the above mentioned, it can be said that preserving any nation’s heritage is not wastage as it is significance of the culture, rather than an investment which is done to develop the cultural heritage of a country and to portray its strong grounds.
People can use their personal strengths in expressive ways and offer opportunities for self-expression with the help of art. Various means of expressing is the significance of healthy nation, and art is one of them by which people express themselves. Art is responsible for improving the social, critical and creative skills of people and provides a sense of Independence and teamwork, both of which are needed to create a happy and vigorous nation.
India is on the top of the list of tourism, for tourists from all over the world and it is all due to art. Tourism helps in any nation’s economy by generating huge amount of income. Every year, millions of tourists come to India due to its art heritage, for example, Indian paintings which have their roots in the Indus Valley Civilisation, Indian pottery, sculptures dating back to the Harappa period, various dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Manipuri etc. In fact, Indian theatre is one of the oldest in the world, and world still has number of dedicated fans of the same.
It is the real fact that public services are basic necessities that every citizen has a right on and in developing countries and there is also a lot of scope for their improvement and development. But I think, diverting the investments from the field of arts into public services is not a better idea. Both these fields have their own importance in their own ways and need attention but not at the cost of each other. The government should focus on both and funds for both should be raised through more effective approaches and financial arrangement, rather than reducing funds for each other.
Practically, no one can survive without public services like fire brigade, army, paramedics etc. and no one can live in a concrete jungle without colours, patterns and sculptures, or to put it together—without art.