Abstract
This paper focuses on ways in which culture and cultural practices develop within the modern world. Recent times have seen unprecedented changes within the ways cultures interact; not only internally but also with those around them. My research began years ago and although the narrative has altered due to COVID-19, it has mostly remained the same; reflective of the ways we decide to co-exist and what we expect from one another in terms of cultural values. These have internalized financial values, specifically in the west and capitalist structured societies. The pandemic has highlighted this structure, showing the shortcomings of this exchange system. This dominant economic model rules the cultural sectors as well as the minds of masses of people it failed to serve. Due to the aforementioned systems, culture and its practices can no longer develop under the same definition and umbrella of our ancestors. Capital can not be separated from environmental transitions and modifications, this in turn, along with many other facts has affected the way that culture exists in a pre/post pandemic world. Cultural practices, arguably, have a responsibility to be sensitive to the ebb and flow of the world. Artwork has long mimicked social and political changes in the world in which it was produced. However, that commentary is no longer enough. The artwork, or cultural practice must be explicitly active in its production, existence, and commentary. A cultural and spiritual transformation which needs to take place. Renouncing selfishness and greed.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Voices from the Edge: Negotiating the Local in the Global
KEYWORDS
ART, PHILOSOPHY, CULTURE, ETHICS, COLLECTIVE
