Why have most cultures throughout history used artistic works as a form of representation?

In the past, literacy was not very high which was why artistic forms such as paintings or pictures, and musical compositions were very much used. Another reason would most likely be how each culture has an ideal view of what beauty is and they usually work around this. This is why some cultures have a shared approach when it comes to art and cultures then can be differentiated based on the type of Art that they used.