Band 6+: Art is considered an essential part of all cultures throughout the world. However, these days fewer and fewer people appreciate art and turn their focus to science, technology and business. Why do you think this is? What could be done to encourage more people to take interest in the arts?

Even though art is perceived as an important part of all cultures across the world, nowadays, more and more people are shifting their focus to business, technology and science with lesser people appreciating art. In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this : low salaries for artists and continuous concrete advancements in the field of science and technology as compared to that of art. However, there are certain measures that can be taken to change this trend.

These days, artists struggle financially, given the lack of platforms to showcase their talent and earn a living. For instance, many artists find it difficult to land a full-time job in their field and thus have to take up freelance work with irregular income and no employee benefits like insurance. Another reason is that the recent scientific developments such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning have attracted a large majority of the youth to pursue such subjects at the university level. Besides, many governments throughout the world invest in scientific research and development programmes that directly benefit the population, which is not the case with art.

Nevertheless, one of the key things that can change this scenario is the support of government for local artists by offering them a fair chance to grow in their career. This can be done by regularly sponsoring their works at national and regional art galleries and exhibitions. Artists on the other hand can take up scalable projects with the help of digital applications such as Procreate to convert their art into digital versions and then selling them as merchandise. These solutions might result in transforming the value of their art in the eyes of common public.

In conclusion, the two main causes of the current decrease in the appreciation of art are low salary packages of artists and substantial progress in the field of science as compared to art. Nonetheless, the right kind of backing by governments and resorting to digital art for selling merchandise online can be viable options to encourage people to be interested in art.