Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life

- Pablo Picasso

While it might be argued that the greatest art has been the product of mid second millennium where development and leisure were more or less in equal proportion, making scope for artistic genius and patronage to flourish in equal measure; it is often pointed out that the finest imaginative (modern) art and experimentation coexisted with peek traditional capitalism, industry and science. It may simply be argued that art was receding from a human consciousness that was now focused purely on wealth and power. Is art an integral part of social and community life or is it some special kind of a pursuit? Is every action in life utilitarian or is there space for activities that deal with intellect and imagination, appreciation and beauty which apparently have no practical and material value? Should there be a time and place for sensitive response to emotional, aesthetic and imaginative work which has no functional value? If we do manage to give it a functional value, does it become part of the utilitarian world or does it still remain only a special pursuit, close to ones heart?? I believe that art is and must be a special pursuit in community life because the value it adds to life is something that cannot be measured in terms of its substantial and material value. It is purely imaginative, psychological, emotional and aesthetic. It must be encouraged to flourish because it adds great amounts of joy to life which can otherwise be only practical, mechanical and drab. Expressing oneself is something that is very essential for adding meaning to existence and it is known for a fact that there is no means

better than art that facilitates bringing out ones deepest emotions which sometimes cannot be articulated in any other form. In a world where technology has taken over most functions and is making community life a menu-driven one it is important to restore and sustain such form of expression which has a human touch. Digitized games, machines that compose music and create pictures are certainly welcome and useful but the imaginative act of a human being brings great value and joy with which the work of a machine is not comparable. In today's high paced world, human activity of the special kind is beginning to attract less time and lesser attention. Very rarely do we allocate time and acknowledge the childlike joy of splashing random colors onto a plain canvas making aimless yet meaningful designs that very subtly transport us into an unknown world of contentment where we are left wandering. In such a perfunctory community it seems desirable to rediscover and promote human art as different from digital art.