What is an artist according to Damanhurian beliefs? Is it a person with innate talent? Is it someone who has learned the technique well? A medium? An individualist? Or perhaps a reckless genius?
It is considered all these things together! Falco Tarassaco believes that art is one of the main ways to express yourself, both to manifest what we have inside and to meet others, with whom we share our creations. Here is one of his definitions of the function of art and the role of the artist, taken from the public meetings he led every Thursday:
“We attach great importance to each individual, so that everyone can fully express their capabilities. So much so, that Damanhur is the place where everyone can participate in the formation of various artistic expressions according to the different talents of each person that can be developed over time.
In this way, each individual can draw out the deepest part of himself and transform it into a form that become more profound. It does not matter how these forms express themselves, the important fact is that they express themselves and that they become more dense by the individual.”
Falco himself was very active: one of his main roles was that of a painter, through the creation of the selfica paintings, he was able to publish a couple of poetry books and was also the author of several comedies.
The medium of a greater feeling
Knowing how to hold a paintbrush or how to play the guitar does not necessarily mean you are an artist. The Damanhurian artist, whether they are a painter, a musician or a sculptor, is someone who wants to cultivate and grow their talent to make it available to a collective feeling and thus create works that represent the emotion of all the people. To represent everyone’s emotions, however, mastery of the medium is also necessary, so a Damanhurian artist must not only rely on his talent but constantly study and deepen his technique.
Beyond this, first of all an artist must be a medium, an individual capable of channeling the general feeling. The author who knows how to create only on the basis of his own personal inspiration, who tells what he feels inside without trying to get involved in what others feel, responds to an artist’s vision that is contrary to the Damanhurian philosophy.
Creators & users
Many Damanhurian artists follow a path in which they develop a personal research discourse, and alongside this, they put a “Damanhurian” artistic path, in which their talent creates the channel through which the inspiration of the entire Spiritual People is expressed. The Temples of Humanity, the Theatrical Ballads and also the chants of the choir thus represent, in a certain sense, collective works, channeled through artists who have composed them in the name of all the people.
The Damanhurian idea is that in a work of art, the distinction between artist and public must be minimal: it is a distinction that exists, because the creator and user have different functions, but must exist in a condition of exchange, in which what one expresses is the fruit of what the other expresses, and vice versa. The artist excites the public, which inspires the artist, and so on.
This is why we are talking about a Popolo of artists: because anyone who holds the pen, the microphone, the chisel, or the paint brush is sometimes found to be the creator and sometimes the consumer, in a circularity of experiences that enrich everyone’s inspiration.
The inner artist
What is certain, (we are convinced that this is so) is that inside every person lives an inner artist. Sometimes more evident, sometimes more eclectic, sometimes more protagonist and sometimes less, but always, within each person, there are various predispositions to creativity that would be a tragedy not to exploit. The Damanhurian art courses, in fact, are in many aspects also internal research courses. It is not necessary to dress like a rock star or to have eccentric and narcissistic attitudes: to truly be an artist means to love and create beauty and originality and this, art history teaches us, does not necessarily mean having an extreme lifestyle.
The invitation of Damanhurian artists is addressed to everyone: especially if you are not currently exploring your artistic side, even if you don’t believe it is possible, find a space for art in your life, free its strength, and discover parts of yourself that you don’t even suspect you have!
