Drawing on the spiritual power of the arts

Baha’is always strive to further enrich their community-building activities by drawing on the arts – whether through prayers put to music, drama, or the use of visual arts incorporated in children’s and youth spaces.

In Australia’s north east, some 80 Baha’is from across Queensland recently came together for a day to explore the power of the arts, and to help kick-off a process of learning and action.

The day started with the study of a small collection of short passages. Participants reflected on what it might mean when ‘Abdu’l-Baha refers to someone “blend[ing] … tunes with the melodies of the Kingdom” or when the Bab counsels that “whoever possesseth power over anything must elevate it to its uttermost perfection that it not be deprived of its own paradise”.

One presenter, Ruha Fifita, spoke to the role that ‘ngatu’, or tapa cloth, has in Tongan society across all aspects of community life. As she unrolled a ngatu for all to see, participants reflected on how pivotal the arts can be in a communal setting, highlighting the statement from the Universal House of Justice that:

With the program combining music, theatre, drama, visual art, poetry and rap, facilitators were able to share how their respective art forms could be used in various community building endeavours, using examples of how such mediums generated joy, strengthened bonds of unity, disseminated knowledge, consolidated understanding, and acquainted people with the principles of the Cause.

The conference was one element of an ongoing effort across the north-east to learn more about how both individuals and communities can draw on the spiritual force of the arts as they return to their homes and become active agents of change, keeping the following words of the Universal House of Justice in mind: