Art and the Federation

Art has been upheld and encouraged throughout the Federation. Indeed, according to certain 24th Century scholars (and some of later dates), art is an expression of the (sic: Human) soul, and should therefore be cherised.

Art in General
Painting and scuplturing are considered to be well accepted throughout the Federation. Though, officially, artists paint and scupltors scuplt to express the full potential of the Human spirit and not for money, there have been some works of art that have been purchased from Federation artists.

As for the content of art, such paintings and sculptures are allowed only on the pretense that they uphold Federation ideals.

Music
Music is also considered an expression of the Human spirit, and therefore is allowed. However, certain archaic genres of music (those that dominated the 20th and 21st Century such as rock-n-roll, metal - all types of it - pop, hip-hop, rap, alternative, etc.) are considered to be "socially volatile".


 * Metal is considered to be barbaric and inciting negative feelings (as well as "intellectually backwards" due to the references to "God" and "Satan" and other deity figures) and is outlawed. Hip-hop and rap are outlawed due to their violent nature, rock because of its "viceful content", and "pop" is outlawed for the purpose of keeping people equal.

Certain underground music organizations keep outlawed music alive. If such people were ever discovered...

Theatre
Theatre is kept alive due to its uplifting of human excellence. This is probably the most respected of artistic genres since classical works of Shakespeare and such are still kept (though 20th and 21st Century plays are fewer in circulation if not gone altogether).

Literature
Literature is also kept alive in a certain method. Since there are no more books in the 24th Century, all books have been converted to electronic files kept on Memory Alpha (the library planet). Authors of books must submit their works to the Federation Committee of the Arts, who then approve it to be posted on Memory Alpha's databanks.

Such authors whose works survive to this day include Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, H.P. Lovecraft, Shakespeare, L. Frank Baum among others considered to be "intellectually and socially acceptable" to the Federation Committee of the Arts. Some of the other works that are also kept her are Mein Kampf by Hilter, The Manifesto by Marx and several other controversial books by Khan, Ira Graves and Noonien Soong.

Some books and authors, however, are not permitted in the archives of the Federation due to their "socially repressive" and "intellectually unsound" subject matter. Most of these books were burned during the Cochrane Movement of the 21st Century, but a select fiew survive.


 * ''Though the Holy Bible is considered to be "the epitome of social inferiority, intellectual repression and the source of the disunity on Earth prior to the formation of United Earth, it is still kept on display. This is due to the fact that it is the first book ever printed and, according to Federation philosophers, represents the beginning of the "age of reason".