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A. Higgins: Address to Summit 2022, Session II
Written by Dr. Ann Higgins, President, World Dance Congress, UNESCO, Bahamas
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
I want everyone to do this – (waves her arms). You’re dancing, in one accord, unity. For that moment that you were doing that, you didn’t think about anything else. You didn’t think about hating your neighbor, or if you were mad at your brother or sister. All you thought about was waving. That’s art. If you do that together, you won’t be able to do anything else. Your hands are to hold and to love and not fight.
I’m going to thank all of you who allowed it to be possible for me to be here. If I start calling out their names, I will not be able to name them all, so please forgive me. Thank you.
I want to talk about the arts. In the Bahamas the young boys who get in trouble with gangs, shooting each other and killing each other, we take the guns out of their hands and put a guitar. Take the guns out of their hands and put a drum. Take the guns out of their hands and give them something else to do creative. The arts.
If you can take the instruments that are causing them to be violent out of their hands and replace it with something creative, you can get them to be at peace with each other. In the Bahamas we have a festival called Junkanoo. All year round there is war going on among the young people, one way or the other, but during the time of preparation and celebration for our festival we have all of them come together in different places, in shacks, in abandoned buildings or old buildings. They gather together and do the cutting and pasting and decorating of costumes.
They were at war with each other all year round, but during the time of getting together and practicing with music, horns and drums, everyone is at peace. And it’s through the arts. I can tell you that it works.
We’re talking about peace. I tell you we cannot have peace unless you and I have peace, first in our hearts. If you don’t have peace in your heart, how can you have peace with your brothers and sisters? When you are angry, you don’t want to talk to anybody about anything because you are angry. There’s nothing you can do. You won’t feel like walking; you won’t feel like going anywhere. But as soon as there is music, you dance.
When you have a party, who do you call for? The musicians. If you’re going to have a wedding, who do you call for? The musicians. If you’re going to have a celebration, you must have dancing and singing there. Don’t you do that? So it shows you that the arts can bring people together, and can bring people together in peace. The moment when I started dancing, everyone was paying attention.
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, article 27, clause 1, states that everyone, regardless of race, color or creed, has the right to participate in the cultural life of their community, freely, and can enjoy and share in the advancement and benefits of arts and culture.
All art forms, whether it’s dance, painting, music, can be used to bring about peace and reconciliation, in Korea and indeed the world. The arts can command attention and can assist in bringing those together who are affected and even those who are your enemy.
We know the story, and if you haven’t, you’ll hear it now. God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And it said, the spirit of the Lord did what? Moved. Moved. The spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the deep and upon the waters. And when he moved, the fishes came out of the water. In the Bahamas we have conch and sharks and lobsters. You’ve been eating squid and some of that today. The waters began to manifest movement.
In the Bahamas there are clear blue waters. The waves begin to move because God breathed upon the face of the deep. The spirit of God moved and transformed the earth.
Now if you’re an artist or a dancer, we’re talking about the choreographic nature of God. God was the greatest choreographer in the world. Don’t let dancers tell you, “I’m the best choreographer.” God was the greatest choreographer in the world. Look how he put the stars in place and look at the birds and the colors of the flowers. When you look around and see the choreographic nature of God—he did that.
First, we must remember all of our gifts and talent comes from God. Each and every one of you, he placed a special gift inside of you. And you might say, I don’t know what my purpose is. What is my purpose in life? Why am I born? The very thing that you do that nobody has to pay you to do or teach you to do, that is the gift that God has placed inside of you.
Some of you are teachers, doctors, lawyers, pastors, financial businessmen. Many of you have gifts that you do just like this with your eyes closed. That’s your purpose. And that is what you will use to bring peace to mankind. Some people have trouble because they spent all their money foolishly. But you, the financier, can say to them: “No, no, use a budget. Don’t spend it on another pair of shoes. Let me show you how to save.” Bringing peace back into their hearts instead of thoughts of suicide because they can’t pay the mortgage, or their husband or wife walked out on them.
God gave you your gift. All talents and gifts come from God. Our expression and creativity comes through our movement. Research has shown that creativity is natural for human beings. And the solution to the world’s problems can be found in our creativity.
In this first demonstration of one of the art forms, we see that there is expression in action toward peace. Movement, dance—there is just peace. Therefore, creative individuals, with music, dance or other art forms, can be a practical solution to peace in Korea and this restless world by pouring out our gifts of life through expression and creativity. Arts and culture provide a safe place to accomplish the goals of peace and harmony in Korea and the surrounding nations. It provides creative and simple outlets for human beings who are in conflict to express themselves, and also bring about unity and oneness while engaging in friendship.
I just shared with you about the kids in the Bahamas. The late Myles Munroe, a Bahamian evangelist, said: “When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” If you don’t know the purpose of the wife, you’re going to abuse her. If you don’t know the purpose of a knife, you can peel an orange or you can cut someone’s throat. If you don’t know the purpose of the arts, you will abuse it. We see how many of them abuse the arts.
Now I was dancing on the stage and bringing you joy. Some women are dancing in a bar and bringing some men joy. If you don’t know the real purpose of the arts, you can abuse it. The purpose of the arts in the culture of a nation was always meant to show the creativity and expression of God’s beauty. Those of you from Africa know the drumming and the dancing. The kids begin to dance and dance. It’s the culture. It’s something God has given you.
And each and every one of you, he has given you a culture in your nation to express that so that the children will have something to hold on to; the next generation will be able to develop the cultures in your nation. Not only that, love, healing, peace and unity will be poured out on mankind and change its heart about war. Art and culture also play a number of roles in the creation and building and promotion of peace. The Korean peninsula and nations of the world must learn to embrace change in 2022. If we keep doing the same thing, we’ll keep getting the same result. That’s called insanity.
There is now a new generation of socially, politically engaged artists who are looking for ways to express themselves. Look at all these kids on YouTube. Look at all these big dance competitions among the young people. They are looking for ways to express their creativity.
Find a way in your nation to use the young generation of tomorrow so that the positive can be released and the kids can be released. It will bring joy even to the older folks. Don’t say to them, “Oh, you new generation, what is that you’re doing?”
When I started dancing over 50 years ago—I’m 66—they looked at me like, what kind of dance is this you’re doing? Now this new generation is being told the same thing. The hip hop and the bop, this generation loves it. Release them and let them use it to bring peace to the community, peace to this nation.
When the pandemic began, we went through much distress and displacement. Some suffered the loss of loved ones, some suffered financially, losing hope, and in despair. The arts and culture is the way forward to bring peace and healing to the nations of the world. This is where we begin to dance, sing, dramatize, use our gifts with a purpose. Look for solutions that don’t involve violence, conflict and war related to climate change, inequality, migration and other grievances, as well as the breakdown of educational, financial and governmental systems that we always rely on to work out our problems.
The arts can change the way people act. The power of creativity lies in the heart of the artist. That is using your gifts to bring about positive change. Where there is a pattern of violence and conflict, the artist can touch the soul of the audience, change the atmosphere and cause reconciliation and healing where there was anger and hatred.
I recommend persons on the Korean peninsula who have great creative abilities on a local and global scale, to create ways to bring about true change through their gifts.
I’m not telling you what you can’t do. I know you can do it because I have done it. Hundreds of children in the Bahamas have walked out of gangs, from being molested, raped, child molestation, and have been healed. Some of them are now doctors and lawyers, some have good jobs. We sent some of them to colleges because we used the arts to evangelize the community and pull these kids out of the urban area. We don’t tell them, “You live in a ghetto.” We tell them, “You live in a historic village.”
They renew their minds through the arts. To date we’ve been successful in our nation to bring hundreds of children out of their situation through the arts.
I admonish you: Do the best you can. As you sit and talk, and as you come together and convene, when you walk away from here, walk away to do the work that you have heard can be done. God bless all of you.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.