The Courage to See: Art, Activism, and the Dance of Light and Dark
A Message of Hope for 2025
Everyone can feel it—a profound dis-ease stirring in the collective human heart. Something is deeply wrong with the way we live, though we’re trained not to look too closely at what that might be. Some say it’s because we don’t have enough religion in our lives, others say it’s because we have too much. Some blame political ideologies, others blame immigrants or gender politics. Some say humanity itself is innately rotten.
We find ourselves in a world where a powerful few shape the stories we tell about ourselves, where economic systems are designed to appear natural rather than constructed, where the illusion of infinite choice masks the reality of concentrated power. Through sophisticated systems of influence, our very understanding of reality is carefully curated to maintain this status quo.
The explanations multiply while the underlying unease grows stronger. But beneath the noise of competing narratives lies a simple truth: our society has lost its way, and deep down, we all know it.
In these extraordinary times, as we witness unprecedented global events unfold, many of us feel called to respond—not with despair or denial, but with courage and creativity. What is our responsibility as artists and cultural creators in the face of this growing awareness? How do we transform our shared anxiety into action, our collective grief into growth, our righteous anger into art?
Throughout history, art has helped humanity face its darkest moments, transforming collective pain into beauty, resistance into song, oppression into dance. When words fail, art speaks. When power silences, art amplifies. When truth is buried, art excavates.
When we look away from the pain of any people, we diminish their humanity and
our own.
Brené Brown
The insight of the above quote cuts to the core of our mission at Earth Beat, symbolized by our interwoven hearts representing the balance of light and dark. We recognize that everything in existence has both sides, and true harmony comes not from avoiding the dark, but from bringing both into conscious relationship.
Our role as an arts organization isn’t merely to entertain or to create “safe spaces” that shield us from reality. Rather, we are called to create brave spaces where truth can be spoken, where art serves its highest purpose: to witness, to wake up, to transform. The artist’s role has always been to shine light into the shadows, to make visible what society would rather ignore. If you or someone you know embodies this spirit of courageous creativity, we invite you to join us—applications for most festival departments close in mid-January.
In an age where social media platforms like Meta shape our connections and conversations, determining what stories we see and share, the systematic suppression of certain narratives while amplifying others breeds a profoundly distorted understanding of our world and our shared humanity. Cultural spaces like Earth Beat become crucial as forums for authentic dialogue and expression, even as we wrestle with the tensions between comfort and courage, between safety and truth.
Some argue that cultural spaces should remain “positive,” separate from the mounting crises of our time. Yet these crises—whether environmental devastation, growing inequality, or state violence—are not distant problems happening to other people. The comforts we enjoy living in western nations, such as New Zealand, are directly linked to systems of extraction and oppression that impoverish others. Have you ever wondered why our labor is valued so much higher than theirs? Why a worker in Bangladesh earns in a month what we earn in a day? Why our dollars hold such crushing power over their currencies? These are not natural laws or accidents of history—they are carefully maintained systems of inequality.
There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
Audre Lorde
The movements emerging across the world are fighting for actual political and economic liberation from these systems of extraction and control. Their struggle for sovereignty over their resources, labor, and futures is ultimately a fight for all of humanity’s dignity, challenging a system that sacrifices the many for the profits of the few. As James Baldwin warned, “If they come for you in the morning, they will be coming for us in the night.”
In the early twentieth century a mystic by the name of Gurdjieff developed what became known as the Fourth Way—a path to awakening that emphasized conscious engagement with everyday life rather than retreat from it. This teaching reminds us that spiritual growth doesn’t require escape from the world’s difficulties—quite the opposite. It is through engaging fully with life’s challenges, through art, through activism, through community, that we develop true awareness. This is how we grow—not by turning away, but by turning toward with open eyes and hearts.
When we engage deeply with life’s challenges, we discover that true safety isn’t found in avoiding reality or suppressing truth. Our triggers, while painful, often reveal exactly where we need to develop greater capacity and awareness. The wisdom lies in learning to hold both protection and growth, knowing that these apparently opposing forces are actually partners in our development. Like the double-heart symbol of Earth Beat itself, this dance between security and challenge helps us expand into fuller versions of ourselves.
This doesn’t mean we should traumatize or overwhelm each other. But it does mean recognizing that true safety comes not from avoiding reality but from facing it together, with support and wisdom. Our children’s future depends on our courage to see and respond to the world as it is.
As we move forward, Earth Beat remains committed to being a space where art serves its highest purpose—not as escape or entertainment alone, but as a vehicle for truth, healing, and transformation. We invite our community to join us in this dance between light and dark, in building our collective capacity to face reality with open eyes and hearts.
For the sake of our shared future, let us have the courage to see, to feel, to know. Let us create art and culture that awakens rather than numbs, that connects rather than divides, that transforms rather than bypasses. For in the end, our liberation is bound together with all who struggle for dignity and justice. This is our responsibility. This is our opportunity. This is our time.
