Expanding Internationalism - A Conference on ... - Mary Jane Jacob

"Multiculturalism"
by
:Marina Grzinic
Video Artist, Independent Curator , and Critic
Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
We have to understand multiculturalism in the ;vay culture
genealogically means cultivare (to cultivate). But this cultivare doesn't
suppose a regionalism or particularism, but more corrplex taking care of
multicultural situation, cultivare differences.
So, multiculturalism is
understood to be like a pluralism of differences between cultures.
Multiculturalism is not a mere juxtaposition of cultures in
geographical terms, but a political definition. That means an understanding
of the contexts of multicultural conditions. Or, if we are speaking about
geography, than relating it to the history of cultures (in time and space) ,
instead of its territorial determination.
When we start to reconsider cultural differences, we have to speak
about context, because it can seem to us at first glance that productions are
similar--but the effects are different. Therefore, we have to ask what are
the conditions, what conditions have made this interaction of cultures
possible, and what may be the result and effect of this multiculturalism.
That means that we are proposing not to discuss the situation described
by the statement "their identity in our mirrors," where "their" means "we,
third world, socialist countries, or eastern Europe," but instead to transform
this into "your identity in our mirrors."
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