Art is very old- Margaret Atwood

Art must be as old as human existence (I think) and as long as we strive to exist art will too in one form or the other. Be it in temporal celebration of inscrutable happiness or savored permanence of inextricable suffering.

An excerpt from her speech that she would have given at Davos this year:

Like you, I wait with eagerness to see what new sorts of art the younger generations will produce. Whatever astonishing forms or media they invent, they won’t stray far from their age-old themes, which are those of humanity itself: its struggles, its tragedies, its relation to its biological home, its loves and triumphs, and above all, its sense of wonder. I wish for these young artists what I wish for all of us: a cool head in a crisis; a knack for lateral thinking; grace under pressure; and a sackful of good luck. We will need all of them.

Full text on her blog, here.

Update: Happened to brush with some more of Atwood on optimism. Was too clever and timely to not include here.

"Anybody who writes a book is an optimist. First of all, they think they're going to finish it. Second, they think somebody's going to publish it. Third, they think somebody's going to read it. Fourth, they think somebody's going to like it. How optimistic is that?"