Mixed-Media Collage: World Heritage and Culture Series
Episode One
The Salon
World Heritage Salon, 2019. Mixed media collage (9"x 6.5")
An artwork exploring themes of cultural appropriation and how the use of other cultural symbols in a foreign context creates a new perspective.
As time passes and globalization has a direct effect on the composition of society as a mix of cultures and nationalities, there comes an idea of a global culture. It is a world heritage that belongs to the lineage of every human on earth, and the more globalized we become the more it is exposed.
We all have a common origin as we all received life in the same human way, the only difference being where/when we are born. in the 1800's art galleries and salons presented very restricted subject matter based on local taste. They we limited by the ideas they shared in their own communities. In the 21st century all our cultural contexts have be mixed and are shared. We can use the different customs to express new combinations art and allows us to treat art as a multi-cultural force that benefits us all.
In World Heritage Salon the subject of faith and religion becomes a multi-faceted and partially contradictory stance, one that says all faiths are respected and presented equally and without bias. Of course it would be an uncommon sight to find Tibetan Buddhist mandalas or Hindi Goddesses in an art exposition in 1876, but it holds a different weight as a viewpoint of mutual combination with European imagery.
In this collage we view the onlookers of the artworks, who then become the real subject matter. Their intrigue or disinterest was a common response to traditional paintings but would they be horrified had it been altered and mixed with other cultures as art does today? Would they even be able to reflect on the contrast and similarities between the two cultures, or would the superiority complex take control?
Combining different ideas or faith and history allows us to process the fast-paced way we consume cultures of the past, and make new cultural expression. This expression is of a mixed and universal nature, one that accepts the differences and freely uses them for all the future generations to be proud of.