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• Culture


  The matrix of humanity, including cultural, social, or political environments in which we develop. It includes all products of human thought and action such as arts, sciences, technology, language, religion and philosophy.
• Values


  Beliefs which a person or people find important in life, used in reasoning and deciding what actions to take. They can be influenced by norms, which are typical and expected behaviours in a particular culture.
• Types of values


  • Personal values
  • Family values
  • Social-cultural values
  • Material values
  • Spiritual values
  • Moral values
• Values influence and guide the creation of artefacts and material things. Artists do not form in a vacuum, they are subject to cultural norms which shape the art they produce.
• Socialization


  The lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, values and ideologies, providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating in their society.
• Values are not static but can change over time when challenging or new issues arise in our lives and societies.
• Cultural diffusion is the spread or influence of one culture on another, which has occurred in areas like technology, sciences and art.
• Cultural change can result from contact between cultures (tourism, trade, colonisation) as well as processes of acculturation, colonisation and migration.
• High culture


  The highest intellectual and artistic achievements of humankind, such as painting, sculpture, literature, music, science and technology. It is often seen as elitist, with only a select few producing and appreciating these works.
• Low culture


  Items produced by the common people in society, who do not have access to high culture due to socio-economic conditions.
• Current cultural, educational and government policy seeks inclusivity, to include all people by providing programmes and services giving everyone access to culture.
• Art


  The expression of a creative skill either as an act, process or material product, with the purpose of creating something of beauty or interest to humankind.
• Major constituents of the arts

  • Literature
  • Performing arts
  • Culinary arts
  • Media arts
  • Visual arts
• Fine art


  Art that has little or no particular function, and is appreciated for its beauty or effectiveness of communication of feeling or ideas.
• Applied art


  Art that is both attractive and useful, involving both form and function.
• Art is both an expression of the artists as well as a vehicle for communication, aiming to evoke a response from the audience or viewer.
• Art requires skill or mastery of a medium, which can be achieved through education, experimentation and self-development.
• Modern art escapes the confines of traditional skill by creating original techniques and combinations of media and new art forms.
• Inspiration and creativity are essential elements in art, allowing artists to approach their medium from a fresh perspective or reinvent an old one.
• Art defines the dawn of civilisation or culture, with each culture creating a different style of art that reflects their way of life.
• Compared to other creatures, human beings are unique in their ability to change the landscapes within which they live, due to different geographies and historical experiences.
• Monks created and preserved culture through manuscript illuminations
• In the Middle Ages, the Church's growth in wealth sponsored the building of gothic cathedrals
• The Renaissance is known as the rebirth of the arts
• The modern age is noted for perspectives in art and the use of technology
• These are reflections of our current way of life
• Art is everywhere, we are surrounded by it
• Many of the objects around us took some form of artistic inspiration to create
• This is especially true for applied arts
• We can appreciate the fine arts by visiting museums, galleries, theatres, musicals
• We must strive to receive the message or feeling communicated by the art
• We must allow ourselves to be inspired
• Inspiration will express itself in our own creations in our own fields of interest
• Compared to other creatures, human beings are unique
• Rather than just figuring out their environments, humans change the landscapes within which they live
• Due to the different geographies and historical experience, human civilisations also develop diverse cultures with different artistic methods
• Cultural achievements are mirrored in the artistic developments of every civilisation
• Artefacts show the values and developmental level of the society that produced it
• Pre/historic artefacts allow understanding of civilisations that created them
• Great civilisations left their mark on the landscape