Importance of Integration of Cultures

This week our task was to read two essays; Mami Wata Shrines: exotica and the Construction of Self by Henry Drewal and Imaging Otherness in Ivory: African Portrayals of the Portugese by Suzanne Blier.  While reading these essays I felt overwhelmed because of the content that the essays included, but after the discussion in class that we had on Thursday I feel more confident in the material that I had read and the meaning behind them.

The Imaging Otherness in Ivory essay explains the process of the definition of culture in a way.  We need other cultures to influence our own to continually develop our own culture.  The essay mainly focuses on the Kongo, Benin, and the Sapi peoples.  The explanation of their art and its purpose helps us to wrap our head around the idea of how we are influenced by their art and how we as artists use some of the same techniques, ideas, and thought process to make our own art.  In the Mami Wata essay Drewal talks about how Mami wata devotees are concerned with alien things because of their water spirit is perceived to be “foreign”.  Without the influence of other cultures our art would seem less intriguing.  The importance of “foreign” peoples or anyone else’s ideas besides our own for that matter influence in our own cultures helps us to create more meaningful and interesting pieces of work.  An example of this kind of integration of cultures and ideas is Pablo Picasso adopting the African visual techniques in his own works.  Picasso was fascinated by the simplicity of the African art he was exposed to in the Paris museums because of the expansion of the French empire into Africa.  His first piece of cubist work, Les Demoiselles, was influenced by African art.  Without the integration and inspiration of these cultures the new technique of “cubism” wouldn’t have been applied.

As some may see it; the Europeans coming into Africa to take over and take the peoples back as slaves may be a bad thing.  Although, yes I must admit I think this sounds like a horrible thing to do, but we must look on the positive side and see all of the beautiful things that have come out these horrible happenings.  If the Europeans wouldn’t have invaded African and taken their belongings who knows how long it would have taken for other peoples to discover their pieces of work and become inspired to create our own pieces of work.

Another important aspect to think about with cultures is how we actually “see” this art.  When we go to a museum and see a piece of work we might think, “This is an interesting piece of work.”  However, do we fully understand the meaning and thoughts that were put into the work by the artist unless we take the time to learn about the artist and their piece of work?  I’m just as guilty of this as everyone else is, when looking through a museum I look for the things that catch my eye first, look at it, think about it for a few seconds, try to figure out the meaning behind it, then walk away.  As Drewal stated in Mami Wata, “Museums may be windows on other worlds, but they are also mirrors reflecting their creators… they influence what we see, how we see, and therefore, what we understand.”  We need to take the time to understand the background that comes from the art and know that there is a meaning behind each piece of work.

One thing I took from reading these essays and writing my blog this week is understand that everything and everyone we come into contact with has an impact on who we are as people and what we make as artists.  Having these interactions and integrations with different peoples helps us to further develop or knowledge and outlook on life.