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Cultural Syncretism
Mar. 18th, 2018 11:57 amFamily went to the Museum of the American Indian yesterday to catch a fascinating exhibit ("Transformer"). It was Native American art expressed through/altered by modern technology. Many interesting pieces, but my favorite was a multi-generational portrait by artist Jon Corbett consisting of electronic beads constantly changing the portrait in a spiral pattern, one generation slowly morphing into the next.
It's always encouraging to me to see artists attempting a form of cultural syncretism, fusing the traditional and the modern into something new. We have to be careful not to obliterate the past as we forge into the future, but we can't get stuck in old forms and fail to adapt to an evolving world.
In a way, Black Panther is the most dramatic example of cultural syncretism at work today, fusing traditional African culture, African spirituality with the modern superhero movie. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems to have struck a chord.
It's always encouraging to me to see artists attempting a form of cultural syncretism, fusing the traditional and the modern into something new. We have to be careful not to obliterate the past as we forge into the future, but we can't get stuck in old forms and fail to adapt to an evolving world.
In a way, Black Panther is the most dramatic example of cultural syncretism at work today, fusing traditional African culture, African spirituality with the modern superhero movie. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems to have struck a chord.
