Director of Modern Art Oxford Paul Hobson believes artists leave an indelible mark on society and history

A few weeks ago it was my pleasure to be involved in discussions convened by Oxford city and county councils concerning the development of Frideswide Square, close to Oxford rail station.

The scheme proposes to redesign this area to address important transportation and environmental issues, which will bring significant benefits to residents and visitors to the city. It is fantastic that councillors see the potential of this major development to create a new public plaza, shaped and animated by artists.

The vibrancy of Oxford during the summer brings into focus how public art and cultural experiences play an important role in defining communities, creating new shared memories and celebrating life in the city, from music festivals across the county to the Cowley Road Carnival. Throughout the year, city spaces are brought alive by theatre, literature, art, music, dance and festivals that captivate local communities and bring new visitors to Oxford. One of the ways in which the fundamental importance of the arts is illustrated is in the role it plays in major civic occasions — from national celebrations like jubilee events and state occasions, to major sporting events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Not surprisingly, one of the most powerful ways in which the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War has been marked has been through the poignant and sensitive visions of artists who remind us that history is often most powerfully recalled through creative expression, long after the lived experience has passed.

In the words of a former Director of Modern Art Oxford, Sir Nicholas Serota: “History will remember us by the creative endeavour of our artists, writers, composers, filmmakers and architects. The memory of the horror of Guernica lives on through Picasso’s great painting and of the revolution in Russia through Eisenstein’s films.”

It is the artists who leave the indelible mark of any society. The ability of art to represent, to distill and to magnify the full range of human emotion, connects us to commonly-felt experiences, and cannot be underestimated in enabling us to reflect on events of the magnitude of the Great War.

Likewise in the present, art can be transformational in helping to create new spaces for living and working, inspiring and educating, regenerating and reimagining. We only have to look around us at the works by some of the world’s great architects that have created the fabric of our city — Gibbs, Hawksmoor, Jacobson, Wren . . . to name just a few. In a city renowned for producing know-ledge and ideas that shape the world, I hope the role that artists play in shaping the city today will continue to be celebrated and will carry on long into the future.