In moments of crisis we need culture
- Mafalda Oliveira
- Mar 23, 2021
- 2 min read
Culture is the soul of a nation. Its power is deeply embedded in the vitality, creativity, and cohesion of a nation.
It is one of the main pillars of development and sustenance of communities and no society can progress in its absence.
Traditional celebrations are some of the core aspects of any culture. Celebrating our traditions offers an excellent opportunity for intercultural exchange and understanding.
Whether it is a wedding, a harvest festival, a religious holiday, or a national observance, our celebrations are woven tightly into our overall cultural identity, all of this is being deprived of us due to the pandemic we are going through.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis it created have had equally a devastating effect on the cultural and creative industries, revealing and magnifying their pre-existing volatility.
Many artists and creators, especially those that work in the informal or gig economy, are now unable to make ends meet, much less produce new works of art. Cultural institutions, both large and small, are losing millions in revenue with each passing day.
Billions of people are physically separated from one another, and it is precisely culture that is able to bring us together. It provides comfort, inspiration and hope at a time of enormous anxiety and uncertainty.
In the absence of “off-line” cultural content such as concerts, performances and festivals, the internet has become the frontline for the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expression in 2020/2021. This should be of great concern to us, since we cannot simply accept that culture loses its true essence and is dominated by the digital world.
Lately, we have seen that culture is wrongly seen as a luxury, rather than a necessity. We all have to understand clearly that in moments of crisis we need culture, this is not the time to invest less in it, but rather more.
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