Arabic Language Café – Art: Freedom and Moral Controls

31 October 2019

Art represents human creativity, exhibiting the impact of its beauty and its purpose of pleasure. The human psyche is able to create innovative expressive forms, such as painting, sculpture, writing, or dance, and transcends all objective controls and seeks to gain exceptional legitimacy, granted by its rebellious nature. Hence, art is a pure freedom, whose legitimacy does not derive from outside the work of art or from any rules other than the rules of aesthetic creativity. Art has become the area where people can express what is difficult to say or disclose in other areas determined by social, moral and religious controls. With these points in mind, we will engage in a serious and constructive debate about art in regards to freedom and moral controls with the following questions:

Is it possible to talk about art in isolation from morality?

Does art within ethics respond to the needs of communities and individuals?

Can art sometimes lead a society to the abyss?

What needs cannot be fulfilled within the framework of moral religious controls, whatever that religion?

For more information or to attend the event, please visit the Arabic Language Cafe Page.