I think the case you make for the art can be surprisingly rue but I think at an individual level.
I can say this for Literature and food. With books, when I read one I can not only remember the book itself but the surrounding incidences - like what time of the day I read it in, who disturbed me when I was reading, did I leave the story in middle and go to sleep or I powered through the drowsiness but mostly what was my state of mind throughout the story. It's like a one long mnemonic function for me.