Wangechi Mutu Quotes

The role of art in society differs for every artist.

But what I'm very interested in, whether it's writing, whether it's hosting a show, whether it's cooking food, I'm just into the discussions of identity, culture and the politics of culture.

The importance of the arts to the societies in which they thrive is well documented.

Burmese authors and artists can play the role that artists everywhere play. They help to mold the outlook of a society - not the whole outlook, and they are not the only ones to mold the outlook of society, but they have an important role to play there.

Every era needs a genre through which it understands itself.

Artists look at the environment, and the best artists correctly diagnose the problem. I'm not saying artists can't be leaders, but that's not the job of art, to lead. Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte - there are artists all through history who have become leaders, but that was already in them, nothing to do with their art.

From a purely ethnological point of view, I was not a period-born Dada.

Comics could use more creators with something worthwhile to say.

I don't really want the kind of Englishness that I have represented.

The role of art in society is not to resolve conflicts; rather, it is to express these conflicts and antagonisms.

I feel like Black Thought is a name that has so much meaning and depth, not only to me but to my fans, that it's something that I wanted to hold onto a little bit tighter.

Popular culture is most powerful when it offers us a vision of how our society should look - or at least reproduces our reality.

I don't know if I would describe myself as a political artist.

I do not understand why any poet or writer would run for office; that's a different sense of who you are. I'm just a poet. I am as truthful as I can be. That makes me an artist. I heed the people; I do not lead the people.

If art is not a medicine for the society, it is a poison.

I wouldn't even say that I'm a rapper. I'd say I'm more of a messenger.

I don't have an image of myself, when I'm walking down the street, like I'm a rock star or something. I'm a human being, I'm a friend, I'm a mom, I'm a writer, and I'm an artist. I do play electric guitar and all of that but in the end I'm just a person. I really don't live like a rock star, economically or socially. I still live a pretty simple life beside the traveling aspect of it.

It is the mission of art to remind man from time to time that he is human, and the time is ripe, just now, today, for such a reminder.

And as a young black man, a lot of my professors would really think that it was useful to see the work of politically oriented, positivistic, leftist creative works. And I found it incredibly useful. And I found it something that I've learned from and gained from.

I don't really do anything that isn't about writing, and I don't really know who I am if I'm not thinking about writing.

I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am one thing, a musician.

I'm very aware of how much movies, literature and art affect culture. They are a reflection of the world around us and they are also a means by which we engage with the world around us.

I have this identity for myself as a writer and the only thing that can happen is that I chip away from it.

Burmese authors and artists can play the role that artists everywhere play. They help to mold the outlook of a society - not the whole outlook and they are not the only ones to mold the outlook of society, but they have an important role to play there. And I think if they take up this role seriously and link it to the kind of changes were wish to bring about in our country they could be a tremendous help.

Early in school, they called me 'the artist.' When teachers wanted things painted, they called upon me, they called upon 'the artist.' I am not saying that I learned my name, animals can learn their names, I am saying that they learned it.