World Art Day is an international celebration of the fine arts which was declared by the

International Association of Art International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IAA) in order to promote

awareness Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events. Another definition describes it as a state wherein a subject is aware of some inform ...

of creative activity worldwide.

Establishment

A proposal was put forward at the 17th General Assembly of the International Association of Art in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

to declare April 15 as World Art Day, with the first celebration held in 2012. This proposal was sponsored by

Bedri Baykam Bedri Baykam is a Turkish artist. Early life Baykam was born in Ankara, Turkey. Baykam's father, Dr. Suphi Baykam, is a deputy in the Turkish parliament, and his mother, Mutahhar Baykam, is an architectural engineer. Baykam studied at Sorbonne ...

of Turkey and co-signed by Rosa Maria Burillo Velasco of Mexico, Anne Pourny of France, Liu Dawei of China, Christos Symeonides of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, Anders Liden of Sweden, Kan Irie of Japan, Pavel Kral of

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, Dev Chooramun of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, and Hilde Rognskog of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It was accepted unanimously by the General Assembly. The date was decided in honor of the birthday of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

. Da Vinci was chosen as a symbol of

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, tolerance, brotherhood and

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

as well as art’s importance to other fields.

Past celebrations

The first World Art Day on April 15, 2012, was supported by all IAA national committees and 150 artists, including those of France, Sweden, Slovakia, South Africa, Cyprus and Venezuela, but the intention of the event is universal. Events varied from special museum hours to conferences and more. For example Venezuela held outdoor art exhibitions with paintings, sculptures, prints, video and more, as well as a Florentine cooking demonstration in honor of Da Vinci. More events were held in 2013 all over the world including the

Mbombela Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north ...

municipal art museum in South Africa. However, there was controversy at celebrations in Sweden when the Swedish minister of Culture,

Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth Lena Elisabeth Adelsohn Liljeroth (born 24 November 1955) is a Swedish politician who served as Minister for Culture and Sports from 2006 to 2014. A member of the Moderate Party, she was an MP of the Swedish Riksdag from 2002 to 2014. Persona ...

, cut into the genitals of a cake representing a black African woman. The performance art was meant to be a statement against

genital mutilation The terms genital modification and genital mutilation can refer to permanent or temporary changes to human sex organs. Some forms of genital alteration are performed on adults with their informed consent at their own behest, usually for aesthetic ...

but many found the depiction racist. World Art Day has also been supported online, especially by the

Google Art Project Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.iaa-usa.org/ Arts festivals