Today I wanted to share a little story of an event that occurred during my studies and how this event taught me the importance of remaining true to yourself.

There was a new Opera being performed locally that we were encouraged to attend, it was being promoted as a really pioneering piece of art and a must see. As the dedicated student I was, I rarely missed a concert that was recommended and managed to get there for opening night.

Unfortunately, I came away from the performance quite distraught and wondering what this piece of work was actually aiming to be. There were rape scenes, gender bending, race reversal and a strong racist theme throughout the entire piece. And yet, everyone was praising it for being so pioneering and a breaker of boundaries. I should mention here that an exploration such as gender bending generally isn’t bad or offensive, but when it was blended into this backward world, it only seemed to worsen the effect.

In discussions in class, it was clear that the majority of other attendees absolutely loved the work and only I seemed to be the odd one out, or at least the only one who had spoken out. I had spoken to my friend who was of the same nationality as the race that was mocked and had confirmation that the themes presented could be seen as very offensive. But, in class I was deemed too narrow minded, overly politically correct, or that I was being overly sensitive and ‘couldn’t see what great art was’.

I remember that a week later the show was meant to be transferred to London. I had expressed that I would be surprised that it would last in London, but was again shot down in flames for ‘overreacting’. However, when that week rolled a long, the show was indeed cancelled for being too offensive and having received complaints from the audience who had attended.

Looking back I have realised the importance on remaining true to your own convictions. Often in the world of the arts there is this idea that if you love an art-form you should support absolutely everything in it in order to be accepted, no matter what. However I worry that this creates an environment similar to the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ in that you start believing in something that isn’t there, liking something you wouldn’t usually like or supporting things that, in the real world, wouldn’t get supported.

Ultimately the arts are for the people and should seek to include as many people as possible, rather than isolate them. Therefore, I do believe that in these circumstances remaining true to our own convictions keeps us in a healthy head space and stops us following anything that is proposed to us, believing it is alright. For, if the only way to break boundaries is to cause offense then the world of the modern arts isn’t going to be a very nice place to be. Instead we need to remember our own values and morals and create art according to them rather than constantly seeking greater esoteric, ostentatious ideas that alienate us from one another.

Instead of breaking boundaries, perhaps we should focus on breaking bread with each other and make the arts a world where everyone is welcome and everyone is equal.