Politics and the art of war

It is not as though there are not artists, ideas and creative gestures worth heeding in this regard but we need to stop for a moment and reflect on the quality and impact of their perceptions of contemporary warfare. Of all the films, plays, books, poems, songs, art and music that the war in Iraq and the war on terror has spawned, are there any that we can yet rank with Owen's Anthem , Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony or Picasso's Guernica?

Dare we say none, except for Michael Moore's powerful polemic documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11? Moore's documentary tears into myths and political beliefs, juxtaposing his findings with a charismatic antithetical ordinary guy heroism which is all too rare in today's creative media.

This is not the way it should be. As a society, finding ourselves seemingly locked in interminable conflict in Iraq and the war on terror, we should assess and elevate artistic endeavour to the level of powerful symbolism of collective protest and disquiet - serving to remind politicians and propagandists that they cannot pull the wool over our eyes all of the time.

Are we so immune to the shock of conflict that there is nothing for the artist to say? Are artists capable of speaking to the general public on subjects as personal as the perception of conflict without the codification of the academy's theoretical rhetoric? Or is it that we no longer look to the artist to help us make sense of the world, because we are not only desensitised but are constantly bombarded by news? Perhaps not even Guernica would take our breath away today.

It would be devastating if the answer to all these questions was simply “yes”.

For if it is right that the artist no longer has that pivotal role in making us search within as to why war is happening, then we are failing ourselves.