Do you consider yourself a "Cultural Ambassador"? If so, in what way?
I have been giving a lot of thought to the idea of "Cultural Ambassadors" recently. On this site we are very interested in promoting dialogue between people who live far away from one another and may never meet in person. The hope being that a dialogue sparked by an interest in the Arts will lead to greater cultural understanding. I think artists who serve as Cultural Ambassadors are key in achieving this goal.
I'm just back from Buenos Aires where I spent time with two artists who used community based art projects to show me their city. I would consider these individuals to be cultural ambassadors (at least for the day). My mother worked for the State Department in one of the finest government programs this country ever turned out (in my humble opinion). She helped artists from the U.S. and abroad share their cultural heritage. There are other examples of "Cultural Ambassadors" I can think of that might not be quite as obvious to some. For example, a storyteller who passes on a tale for future generations or a musician who sings a song her grandmother taught her (perhaps with her own twist added) or a painter who uses a traditional technique to paint Pop art. So my question for you is - do you consider yourself a "Cultural Ambassador"? If so, in what way? Don't be afraid to get creative here. I'd love for you to blow my mind.
I'm just back from Buenos Aires where I spent time with two artists who used community based art projects to show me their city. I would consider these individuals to be cultural ambassadors (at least for the day). My mother worked for the State Department in one of the finest government programs this country ever turned out (in my humble opinion). She helped artists from the U.S. and abroad share their cultural heritage. There are other examples of "Cultural Ambassadors" I can think of that might not be quite as obvious to some. For example, a storyteller who passes on a tale for future generations or a musician who sings a song her grandmother taught her (perhaps with her own twist added) or a painter who uses a traditional technique to paint Pop art. So my question for you is - do you consider yourself a "Cultural Ambassador"? If so, in what way? Don't be afraid to get creative here. I'd love for you to blow my mind.
Tags: Cultural Ambassador, artist, artists, culture
Replies to This Post
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Permalink Reply by Linda Yudin on
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Yes I consider the work that I do and of my company in this category of cultural ambassadorship! Viver Brasil is building a beautiful dance bridge between Los Angeles and Salvador, Bahia, official sister cities! VB brings the elders of the Candomblé to teach us in LA as well as the young virtuosos in dance and music. VB has sponsored cultural tours of Bahia since 1986 and launched the VB Institute in 2010. We are a "dance bridge" connecting Los Angeles to Salvador, Bahia. Los Angeles and Salvador, Bahia, have been official Sister Cities since 1962, as part of the Sister City International program. VB's tour connects you to Afro-Brazilian culture, its social issues, the arts, the African presence in Salvador and the Americas, social education, and a grand dose of creative dance and music making!
Viver Brasil begins its Fall Tour October 28- November 12 to Scottsdale, AZ; Ames, Iowa; Hesston, Kansas; Clarksville, Arkansas and San Francisco, California. If you are any of these cities, we invite you to see Bahian magic based in LA on your city's stage! Axé!
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Permalink Reply by Nico Daswani on -
you sure are, Linda! Good luck on the tour- wish you were coming to New York! Aite mas!
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Permalink Reply by Christine Balza on -
Absolutely a Cultural Artist/Activist/Ambassador! I had never considered myself an artist at all prior to 2006. I was a crafty kinda mom... I had been passing my work around as Christmas gifts. It was one of my baybayin pendants I gave as a mother's day gift that caught the eye of a vendor at a cultural event. Thinking, I've found my niche I started as a vendor but the more I talked about the script the more I learned that only a few people I encountered know what Baybayin Script is and even less knew about little nuances about Filipino Culture, including many Filipino's. Like my ability to speak our native tongue, alot of ancient and modern beliefs are being lost to the deep dark hole...
Some call it colonization, I call it GONE and out of sight is out of mind. - Attachments:
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script workshop.bmp, 710 KB
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Permalink Reply by John Rouse on -
Hi Christine, What is Baybayin Script?
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Permalink Reply by Christine Balza on
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Thank you for asking. Baybayin script is an ancient writing system the natives used before the Spanished arrived. It originated from a script from Indonesia, taught by trader during the Spice Trades. Artifacts have been found dating back as far as 900ad and it was last used in the 1800's. Roman letters were invasive like weed and Baybayin has almost been forgotten...
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baybayin.JPG, 118 KB
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Permalink Reply by John Rouse on
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It's really interesting to examine what has developed culturally along trade routes. I feel like there is much more research to be done in this area of economics and the arts.........And Tagalog, do you know where this come from?
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Permalink Reply by Christine Balza on
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Tagalog and many languages of that region is a mixture of many languages. There are hundreds of dialects in the Philippines and many components are derived from Indonesia with parts of languages from visiting cultures.
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Permalink Reply by Rosetta Jallow on -
When I teach children and adults something they didn't know about Africa or African art, I see that as a form of cultural bonding through the art. If someone comes to me thinking that Africa is a country not a continent, and that the people there speak African rather than many dialects, and goes away knowing more, I have succeeded. If I have educated against racism, even better. In that, I have enlightened people and could be seen as a cultural ambassador.
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Permalink Reply by Tam Muro on -
In the last 25 years I have been working as visual artist and a free-lance museums designer. In this job I am required to get me involved with a lot of very different topics, from fine arts to natural history, from archeology to social conflicts. As an artist and communicator my job is the interpretation of the contents to make them accessible and to allow people to have an intellectual aesthetic and emotional experience. It is necessary to travel all around my country included USA and Central America. Sometimes I have the opportunity to promote new independent projects like the experience with the Guarani community and the record of their sacred songs. All these years I had the luck to know people, places, dreams and many life perspectives. I love to help to build bridges between people and knowledge, between people and themselves.
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