Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist, the only problem is staying an artist as you grow up”
An artist’s world is like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Every flick of the wand has a story and every wizard a storyteller.
So what are these stories? Who are these storytellers? What is art all about? And most importantly what makes an artist extraordinarily ordinary?
Q1) What is the one thing apart from love that artists should explore or that you wouldn’t mind writing about a million times?
A). When it comes to writing, Yahya believes that one should write about the things they strongly believe in. Be it love, social issues or something else, one will naturally write more about it, if that’s its calling. Ever since he was little the only thing he has done right, is dream. Love and dreams are the two things that he is very passionate about. Hence, his writings are an ocean of love and a waterfall of dreams.
“I think dreams are always work in progress” – Yahya.
According to Yahya, there is no final destination, no utopia where everything is pink and unicorns. Instead, dreams aren’t a place at the end of the highway to heaven, it is all about the road. Staying on the trip and not stopping.
Q2) How do you think this big bad wolf Covid 19 and the thunderbolt lightning in the form of a lockdown has affected artists and most importantly their art?
A). This pandemic has come into our lives in waves. Huge, 20 feet high waves. Some artists who had just left corporate jobs and started doing well for themselves are now unable to financially cope up, some have forgotten the joy of stepping onto the stage. Each human being irrespective of their background or career is struggling to survive. Yahya rightly said, “Artist or not, everyone is suffering one way or another and if this lockdown has taught us anything it’s just that the basic thing about humanity is to survive”
Q3) We’ve witnessed people exploring and discovering their artistic sides due to Covid 19. So do you think this lockdown has done only harm?
A). “Don’t use this lockdown as an excuse to say that now I can see how women can be breadwinners. Then you were blind throughout” – Yahya.
Everything that this lockdown has taught us is something that we should have realized a long time ago. We didn’t need a pandemic to realize that women can start their own small business from home and earn for their family. We didn’t need a global crisis to remind us of our passion. However, there are positives and negatives to everything. We saw nature and wildlife properly, realized that 9-5 jobs didn’t require us to go to the office every day. Hence, one can rightly say that the lockdown has been both a boon and a curse.
Q4) Do you think artists are getting enough support from the audience and public?
A). Yahya believes that people who can support are supporting. However, given the country’s economic state and the falling GDP, he also understands if the audience is unable to support their favourite artist, financially.
Q5) How can one differentiate between appreciation and support?
A) As humans, we tend to differentiate the two based on compliments and financial help and that is where the trouble begins. If one stops looking at things only based on monetary help or gain, a lot of problems will be solved internally as an artist.
“For me a lot of times, just a simple appreciation becomes a huge support” – Yahya.
Q6) The artist is a part of the art and well the art is created by the artist, it’s a part of himself. Hence, how can one truly differentiate between art and the artist?
The two are very different from each other. The art is just a small piece of the artist, it’s not all of him.
You look at a painting and fall in love with the painting, not the painter. Love is a vast concept. To love an artist one must know everything about them.
Q7) People have always been inclined towards more academic career choices especially parents for their children. However in a lockdown when there was a global crisis, every man turned to artists. Do you consider this hypocrisy? How can we as artists tackle this issue?
A) Yahya believes that as humans when a problem arises we always find the wrong people to blame. The reason parents say that art doesn’t have scope is because academically we have been offered so less. It’s the education system that considers art as an extracurricular activity. Our parents aren’t wrong because in the end they just want what’s best for us. In life, we have our dreams on one side and our parent’s dreams on the other. The only right thing to do is to find a middle ground. Where we follow our dreams and also do what they want us to do.
Coming to the point about people turning their heads towards artists at a time of crisis is because now that we’re all sitting idle at home, there’s nothing for the world to do. Now, one needs art simply because it’s entertainment.
Q8) In these difficult times or even otherwise people expect artists to be the shining star in the night sky. Do you receive backlash or criticism from people for saying what’s in your heart and maybe not always what they want to hear?
A) “Artists are humans. Start looking at us as humans” – Yahya.
As one keeps growing in life, people tend to forget that in the end, we’re all only human. Even artists. They feel what you feel, they have opinions, thoughts, feel pain, joy, the same way you do and one must not forget that.
“If you criticize me for being honest about myself then you shouldn’t be following me or that artist” – Yahya.
Q9) There are dark times in every artist’s life. It’s the moment you decide whether to let go or rise from the ashes. The ‘Artsy fighters’ is what I like to call them. In these difficult times, what is it that you as an artist would like to say to others just like you? The floor is all yours.
A) “All I want to say is that no matter what the world is telling you right now, no matter how the world wants you to feel. Feel what you are actually feeling from the inside. If you’re feeling low, if you can’t create art right now, it’s fine. Don’t take that pressure. Just ease up and talk about the things that matter to you. Say things and stories that you genuinely believe in. If you want to be the bright star in someone’s life, be the bright star. If you feel that you can’t be the shining light or you can’t take that responsibility today, then don’t. It’s fine.” – Yahya.
Art is not about ‘you’ or ‘we’. It is and has always been about ‘me’.
To complete what Mr.Picasso said, the problem is not staying artists as we grow up. Everything we do is art. The only problem is, some of us choose not to see the art in our doings. All grown up now, let’s choose to be artists. Let’s create and recognize our very own wonderful, little or big piece of art. Our story. Your story. ‘My’ story.
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