Reason why we invented walls!

With ArtBuRt coming to life on the 2nd of Dec 2017, there is a small but tangible cheer in the air for the ArtBuRt family. Its been a slow 40,000 year march to get us to this stage. Now you may say, " 40,000 years! What took you guys so long??" 

Well, the story begins on a regular day some 40,000 years ago at a very simple cave in Indonesia. This was at a time when we were still living inside caves and hiding from our predators. We were mostly nomadic and lived in family packs. This was also much before we invented language and the written word. The need of the time was to establish our identity as a species and in doing so ensure our future generations learnt from our learnings. We had to mark our presence. We needed a technology of communication that would outlive its creators.

And on this day when the conditions were just right, ART in its earliest form was born!

Ironically art was invented much before walls were invented! It would be another millennia before we got civilised enough to start erecting walls. Initially walls were invented to keep the elements out and its inhabitants in. As time progressed we started demarcating ourselves with our walls and they eventually got to what they are today, structures enforcing separation and isolation. 

And all along we knew walls had a greater purpose that we had chosen to ignore and forget. Leave a wall blank and we get a wall thats built for separation and isolation. On the other hand put up something spectacular, and the same wall undergoes a complete transformation. It gets people together and unifies the same lot that otherwise would have been isolated. Wasn't this the true purpose why walls were built in the first place, to have people come and stay together? In a world filled with so much wonder and variety wouldn't we all benefit when we all get under one roof and have an excuse to strike a conversation? Wouldn't we all be better off when we learn how beauty on one wall will open our eyes to appreciate the beauty outside those very walls?

And specifically for that reason, at ArtBuRt we love a blank and boring wall not for what it is but for what it can be. And starting Dec 2nd 2017 we decided to build this virtual wall after 40,000 years of deliberation to bring great art under one common roof, to help real people hang an excuse on their walls to invite guests over. Now which side of the wall do you want to be?

Sriharsha Ganjam