>i have some of my own views but i would very much like
>to hear any of your reactions about this idea..THAT
>ART should be nATIONALISTIC...it would really help me
>to hear what you have to say especially most of you
>who come from different NATIONALITIES?
>
One thing to consider is that art is inevitably nationalistic -- or at least
it reflects the fact that it is created within a certain nation and, hence,
national culture.
Of course art doesn't simply reflect or reproduce the culture. It can also
challenge and change it. Hopefully, art will appeal to and support the
universalistic dimensions of the culture and not the narrow particularistic
values of "nationalism" in the parochial and ethnocentric sense. It seems
Fluxus has always stressed internationalism, which I think at its best,
refers to the universal without ignoring the fact that people are distinct.
I remember reading about Emmett Williams criticizing the nationalism of his
Canadian students when he was teaching at the Nova Scotia school of art in
the 70s. Personally, I've always disliked Canadian nationalism in the arts,
even though it has been a left-nationalism (at least in the 70s). In
particular, I don't like the anti-Americanism in this country that
you find among the left-intelligentsia.
Even so, the internationalism of Americans and other dominant nationalities
can be a way of universalizing and thus imposing their own particular
culture. And simply adopting the international styles is also taking a
stance within one's national culture and doesn't free oneself from it. Its
complex needless to say....
cheers,
George
Toronto, Canada
