Throughout the centuries art has played a greatly important role in society, even if we cannot consciously recognise it. In the Middle Age, for example, the Christian church, sponsored great artists, so that they could contribute to spreading their message and the stories written in the Bible in a time in which most people were illiterate.
Later on, during the bourgeoise revolutions of the 18th century, artists advocated for change through their work. During the 20th century, artists joined the workers movement. Many of them were close to left political parties or unions and did pieces that called to general strikes and rises against the ruling class all over Europe.
In my opinion, art should function as cultural form within social movements to transform society in numerous ways. These functions are to encourage social change, empower and deepen commitment, inform a larger society about different social issues, express or reinforce values and ideas and act as an effective way to communicate ideas to people outside these movements.
Nowadays, art is quite disconnected from society. Locked in museums, it’s been taken away from the public arenas, where it historically belonged. In churches or on the streets, art had an impact on society that is no longer having in museums or theatres, that are only frequented by a very low portion of society. So definitely, art should re-enter in the public sphere. Can a piece of art that has never been seen by anyone be considered art? If the answer is no, then it means art is only art when it’s made public, and therefore, the only logic of its existence is to be accessible to people