Is Art Really Unimportant—Is It Truly Nonessential?

by Nargis Naqvi

I often hear that art isn't important — that it's not an essential. And technically, that's true. Food, water, shelter — those are the things we actually need to survive.

But most of us live well beyond survival. We go out to eat just for the pleasure of it. We see movies. We buy things we don't strictly need. We are, by nature, creatures who seek more than the bare minimum.

And we all love beauty — even when we don't recognize it as such. Have you ever walked into a room and just felt it? A restaurant, a home, a space where the colours came together and the energy was simply right? That's not accident. Someone made choices that moved you.

Art is a gift — and like all gifts, it exists for a reason. For the artist, it's a way of expressing something inward that has no other outlet. It's often how they heal. But for the rest of us, it shapes the spaces we live in, sparks conversation, and creates this quiet moment of recognition — I've felt that too, I just couldn't say it.

That's what an artist does. They say it for us.

So the next time a piece of art stops you, let it. Take a moment and listen to the conversation the artist was having with themselves when they made it. You might find you were part of it all along.