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Chapter 6 of 8

Art, Identity, and Society: Whose Stories Get Told?

Murals on city walls, protest songs, and powerful novels all raise a deeper question: who gets to speak through art, and who is left out? This module explores how the arts reflect, challenge, and reshape societies.

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1. Setting the Stage: Art, Identity, Society

Art Is More Than Decoration

Art is never just decoration. Murals, novels, films, memes, and protest songs all carry ideas about who matters, what is normal, and what needs to change.

The Guiding Question

We will keep returning to one question: Whose stories get told, and who gets to tell them? Some groups appear everywhere; others are invisible or stereotyped.

Your Goals

You will learn to spot social commentary in art, notice who is represented or missing, and discuss how artworks can support, question, or change social norms.

What You Need

You do not need art history. You need curiosity and a willingness to look and listen closely as we explore public art, popular music, and visual culture up to today.

2. Art as Social and Political Commentary

What Is Commentary?

Artworks often respond to real events, laws, and conflicts. This is called social and political commentary.

Common Purposes

Art can expose injustice, celebrate resistance, imagine alternatives, or critique power such as governments, corporations, or media.

Quiet Politics

An artwork does not need protests or politicians to be political. A photo of a refugee family or a comic about mental health can still comment on policy and rights.

Three Guiding Questions

Ask: 1) What real issue or group is this linked to? 2) Does it support or question the status quo? 3) Who feels seen, and who feels challenged, by this work?

3. Example: A Mural as a Community Voice

Visualizing the Mural

Picture a three-story mural near a bus stop: large portraits of local residents, bright fabric-inspired patterns, and the bold phrase "We Are Still Here".

Details That Matter

You see an older woman in a headscarf, teenagers in uniforms, a street vendor, and a nurse. Along the bottom, phrases appear in three local languages.

Context: What Is Happening?

Maybe the area faces gentrification and debates about migrants and minority communities in local media.

How It Comments

The mural centers everyday residents, uses multiple languages, and declares We Are Still Here, pushing back against erasure and displacement.

Public and Community Art

This is public art in a shared space and community art because it clearly represents and speaks for people who live in that neighborhood.

4. Try It: Is This Artwork Political?

Use the questions from Step 2 on two short scenarios. There are no perfect answers; the goal is to practice reasoning.

Scenario A: Pop Song

A catchy pop song tops the charts. The beat is upbeat. The lyrics describe a young woman refusing to smile for strangers, turning down unwanted attention, and insisting on walking home with friends instead of alone. The music video shows scenes of nightlife, catcalling, and the main character calling out bad behavior.

Your task (write or think):

  1. What real-world issues might this connect to?
  2. Does it support the status quo, or question it? How?
  3. Who might feel seen, and who might feel challenged?

Scenario B: Landscape Painting

A peaceful painting shows a river and forest at sunset. There are no people. The colors are soft. The title is "Before the Dam", and the date is this year.

Your task (write or think):

  1. What might the title be hinting at?
  2. What environmental or social issues could this relate to (for example, dams, energy, Indigenous land rights, climate policy)?
  3. If you saw this in a gallery today, would you call it political? Why or why not?

Pause for 2–3 minutes and jot down short answers. Focus on explaining your reasoning, not on being right.

5. Representation: Who Appears and How?

What Is Representation?

Representation is about who is shown in art and culture, and how they are shown.

Four Key Questions

Ask: 1) Are they visible? 2) Are there varied roles or just stereotypes? 3) Do they have power and complexity? 4) Is the story from their perspective or about them from outside?

Common Problems

Many industries underrepresent darker-skinned people, disabled people, older women, LGBTQ+ people, and Indigenous communities, or limit them to narrow roles.

Why It Matters

When you rarely see respectful, complex versions of your identity, it shapes self-image and how others treat you. Richer representation can shift public attitudes.

Current Debates

In the last decade, film, publishing, and museums have updated policies and funding to improve representation. Progress is uneven but actively debated in 2026.

6. Quick Scan: Representation in Your Media

Choose a recent movie, series, game, or music video you know well.

In a notebook or notes app, make a fast table:

  1. List 3–5 main characters or figures.
  2. For each one, note:
  • Gender
  • Approximate age
  • Race/ethnicity (if visible or stated)
  • Any visible disability
  • Social role (job, status, or main role in story)

Then answer:

  1. Who is missing from this world who exists in your real community?
  2. Are any groups shown only as villains, victims, or background?
  3. Is there a character whose identity is treated as a stereotype instead of a full person?
  4. Does anyone feel like a token (included just to check a box)? Why?

This is not about blaming one artwork. It is about training your eye to see patterns of representation.

7. Public Art, Community Art, and Power

Public vs Community Art

Public art sits in shared spaces. Community art is made with or by local residents, not just placed in front of them.

Why It Matters

Public and community art increase access, make marginalized histories visible, and often spark dialogue or conflict about whose stories belong.

Recent Trends

Since the 2010s, many cities have added murals and memorials about slavery, colonialism, and state violence, and debated or removed controversial statues.

Regulations and Funding

Some places now require community consultation or artist diversity when public money funds art, shaping which stories appear in shared spaces.

Three Questions to Ask

Ask: Who funded this? Who is represented or missing? Has there been controversy, and what does that reveal about power and memory here?

8. Check Understanding: Commentary and Representation

Answer this question to check your understanding of key ideas.

Which option best shows how an artwork can both represent a group and comment on a social issue?

  1. A fantasy novel with only non-human characters and no clear links to real-world groups.
  2. A city-funded mural created with local residents that shows migrant workers as skilled professionals with the words "Essential, Not Invisible".
  3. A luxury brand poster showing a single model with no background and no text.
  4. A still-life painting of fruit on a table with the title "Apples and Pears".
Show Answer

Answer: B) A city-funded mural created with local residents that shows migrant workers as skilled professionals with the words "Essential, Not Invisible".

Option 2 is correct because the mural is public and community-based, represents migrant workers in empowered roles, and clearly comments on their social status with the phrase "Essential, Not Invisible". The other options either lack clear representation of real groups or do not comment on a social issue.

9. Deep Dive: Does This Artwork Support or Challenge Norms?

Choose one artwork you know well. It can be:

  • A song or music video
  • A film scene or short film
  • A mural, poster, or comic
  • A poem or short story

Use this simple 4-part framework. Write 2–3 sentences for each part.

  1. Describe
  • What do you see or hear? Focus on concrete details: people, setting, colors, sounds, words.
  1. Identify representation
  • Who appears? What identities are visible (gender, race, age, class, disability, etc.)?
  • How are they shown: powerful, weak, complex, stereotyped?
  1. Spot commentary
  • What real-world issue might this connect to (for example, policing, migration, gender roles, climate, work, mental health)?
  • Does the artwork seem to accept current norms, or question them?
  1. Impact
  • How might this artwork influence how viewers think or feel about the group or issue?
  • Who might feel supported, and who might feel uncomfortable or criticized?

If possible, share your analysis with a partner and see where you agree or disagree. Focus on explaining your reasoning with evidence from the artwork.

10. Review Key Terms

Use these flashcards to review core ideas from the module.

Social and political commentary (in art)
When an artwork responds to real-world issues, events, or power structures, either supporting them or questioning them.
Representation
Who appears in art and media, how they are shown, and whose perspectives are centered or ignored.
Public art
Art placed in spaces everyone can access, such as streets, parks, or transit stations, usually visible for free.
Community art
Art projects created with or by local residents, giving them a voice in how their stories and spaces are represented.
Status quo
The current way things are organized in society, including existing laws, norms, and power relationships.
Gentrification
A process where rising investment and rents in a neighborhood lead to the displacement of long-term, often lower-income residents.
Tokenism
Including a small number of people from underrepresented groups mainly to appear diverse, without giving them real power or depth.

Key Terms

tokenism
The practice of making only a symbolic effort to be inclusive, such as adding one minority character or employee without real inclusion or power.
public art
Art placed in shared spaces that people can access freely, such as streets, parks, or transit stations.
status quo
The existing state of things in a society, including current norms, laws, and power relations.
community art
Art created with or by local residents, often aimed at expressing community experiences or needs.
gentrification
The process by which investment and rising property values change a neighborhood and can push out long-term, often lower-income residents.
representation
Who appears in art and media, how they are shown, and whose perspectives are centered or ignored.
social and political commentary
When an artwork responds to real-world issues, events, or power structures, either supporting them or questioning them.

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