Arts

Forms

• Architecture
• Crafts
• Dance
• Drama
• Fiction
• Film
• Literature
• Music
• Photography
• Poetry
• Puppetry

Types

• Folk art
• Humor

Topics

• Portrayal of holy figures in art
• Sex and the arts

General arts pages

• http://bahaindex.com/modules.php?name=Web_Links&l_op=viewlink&cid=23
• http://www.bcca.org/bahaivision/p0800.html

Compilations

• https://bahai-library.com/compilation_arts_bwc
  • http://www.ee.pdx.edu/~pamela/bahai/comp/arts/ archived (Illustrated copy)
• https://bahai-library.com/compilation_arts_architecture (and Architecture)
• https://bahai-library.com/compilation_arts_crafts (and Crafts)
• https://bahai-library.com/compilation_importance_arts (Arts in Promoting the Faith)
• See also the respective forms pages

In teaching

Bahá'ís are to make greater use of the arts in expansion and consolidation (in addition to proclamation, including folk art)

"In all their efforts to achieve the aim of the Four Year Plan, the friends are also asked to give greater attention to the use of the arts, not only for proclamation, but also for the work in expansion and consolidation. The graphic and performing arts and literature have played, and can play, a major role in extending the influence of the Cause. At the level of folk art, this possibility can be pursued in every part of the world, whether it be in villages, towns or cities. Shoghi Effendi held high hopes for the arts as a means for attracting attention to the Teachings. A letter written on his behalf to an individual thus conveys the Guardian's view: "The day will come when the Cause will spread like wildfire when its spirit and teachings will be presented on the stage or in art and literature as a whole. Art can better awaken such noble sentiments than cold rationalizing, especially among the mass of the people.""

(Universal House of Justice, Four-Year Plan, par. 31)

See also

• art methods

From Lights of Guidance

(Need to be added to relevant subpage)

[+F1 (See also: Nos. 1360-1371)]

The Artistic Presentation of the Faith Will Attract a Certain Type of Individual

"Lighting, sound, floral decorations, etc.; the House of Worship, too, may all be used, but the point to remember is that real beauty and dignity must be achieved, and all impression of our being in any remote sense a cult, or a group of 'artistes' be avoided.

"It is always good to remember that this more artistic presentation of the Cause will attract only a certain type--and, fortunately, a type hitherto ignored in our approach to the public--of person; other methods must also be used to attract other types, such as the intellectual and more reserved type."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, August 19, 1951, in Lights of Guidance, no. 337)

Art Can Better Awaken Noble Sentiments

"Shoghi Effendi was very much interested to learn of the success of the 'Pageant of Nations' you reproduced...

"It is through such presentations that we can arouse the interest of the greatest number of peoples in the spirit of the Cause. That day will the Cause spread like wild fire when its spirit and teachings will be presented on the stage or in art and literature as a whole. Art can better awaken such noble sentiments than cold rationalizing especially among the mass of the people.

"We have to wait only a few years to see how the spirit breathed by Bahá'u'lláh will find expression in the work of the artists. What you and some other Bahá'ís are attempting are only faint rays that precede the effulgent light of a glorious morn. We cannot yet value the part the Cause is destined to play in the life of society. We have to give it time. The material this spirit has to mould is too crude and unworthy, but it will at last give way and the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh will reveal itself in its full splendour."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 10, 1932, in Lights of Guidance, no. 338)

For regular Bahá'í meetings should be no dancers

"Naturally, there should be no dancers at regular Bahá'í meetings. Vocal soloists, of course, may appear."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, August 19, 1951, in Lights of Guidance, no. 336)

Vocal soloists may appear at regular Bahá'í meetings

"Naturally, there should be no dancers at regular Bahá'í meetings. Vocal soloists, of course, may appear."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, August 19, 1951, in Lights of Guidance, no. 336)

Taking Part in Dramas

"In the teachings there is nothing against dancing, but the friends should remember that the standard of Bahá'u'lláh is modesty and chastity. The atmosphere of modern dance halls, where so much smoking and drinking and promiscuity goes on, is very bad, but decent dances are not harmful in themselves. There is certainly no harm in classical dancing or learning dancing in school. There is also no harm in taking part in dramas. Likewise in cinema acting. The harmful thing, nowadays, is not the art itself but the unfortunate corruption which often surrounds these arts. As Bahá'ís we need to avoid none of the arts, but acts and the atmosphere that sometimes go with these professions we should avoid."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of India, June 30, 1952: Dawn of a New Day, p. 153, in Lights of Guidance, no. 339)