Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c3.19

c3.19

A community, convinced of the desirability of possessing within itself a body of skilled craftsmen, and of benefiting from the educational influence and actual productions of such workmen, could attain these ends by appointing master-craftsmen as servants of the community, endowing them with a salary, or with a house or other security from want, on condition of performance of work for the community. Such Public Craftsmen should be required to keep apprentices, and choose from these one to be their successor in office. Such a system would effect the object in view more certainly and more economically than much larger sums spent on technical education, or the encouragement of competitive designs for large public works. Without some such solution of the problem, humanity will in the future have to face a complete alienation of art from labour, resulting in a civilisation “divorced from Nature, but unreclaimed by Art.”