Why small art matters

Art is important, more important than popularity. Is it still? This has become controversial as popular appeal seems to be required to even get noticed in a world saturated with content of all genres. Nowadays, small-scale artists find it even harder to get their feet in the door and leave their mark in a social-media driven world where people can access content of their choice from around the globe and where tastes can rapidly change, driven by the flames of fads and shifting attention spans.

Still, there are some of us who are keen on letting their voices reach a small group of listeners, readers, or moviegoers. Some of us create and are content with what we do and who we are reaching, regardless of the number of followers/readers/people who cheer us on or follow us on Instagram to see what kind of coffee we drink. I, Jaylan Salah, am a poet, writer, published author and film critic who has never been -and does not really intend to be- famous. This is what I’m going to talk about.