Art and Architecture: A Bahá’í Perspective

Abstract

Art is the indigenous offspring of a society; its distinctive music, literature, drama, visual arts, and architecture emerge in its maturity. This essay explores the spiritual significance of the relationship between traditional and new forms of artistic expression from the author’s experience as an architect. To Bahá’ís, creating a work of art is equivalent to an act of worship. In the Bahá’í Era, artists will find a new dimension of abstract truth. However, mastery of any branch of the arts requires a rigorous discipline not generally appreciated. If artists are in advance of the mass of their contemporaries. They must try to open others’ eyes to the world which already stands revealed before them. When the full implications of the Bahá’í Revelation for art are grasped, artists will turn towards the Bahá’í Faith, seeing in this religion a new gateway into spiritual worlds.