Slobodan Dan Paich Comparative Culture Papers
4th Global Conference - Pluralism, Inclusion & Citizenship – A Diversity and Recognition Project
Friday 31st October - Sunday 2nd November 2008, Salzburg, Austria
Slobodan Dan Paich, Director, Artship Foundation, San Francisco, USA
Reflection, probing and open ended speculations about social plurality and culture making based on examples from number of large scale community projects cared by Artship Foundation in the last twenty years. This paper is not an attempt to idealize a practice or come with any universal answers but to share the successes and straggles of number of project tackling diversity, immigrant experience and integration.
Look at multiple tensions in the societies and places where diversity abandons but is not addressed.
In the highly commercialized virtual and real space there are emerging new paradigms of convening. Examples from Artship initiatives both as redefining a real, historic ship and as programs in the community will be sited.
Nationalism, the glorification of war and conquest, and the subjugation of peoples, all have obscured the many instances of benevolent and far-reaching interactions between settled cultures and itinerants and strangers.
There are many examples—since prehistory forward —among the artifacts brought from distant places. Along with these artifacts came people, skills, an understanding of materials, lore and ideas. Following those exchanges may offer new paradigms and meaningful antecedents.
Addressing “Crisis of Perseverance,” was Artship’s response to a contemporary problem among youth of having no role models or witnessing success through perseverance. Artists are the embodiment of achievable mastery, hence the name “Artship,” an exciting, ever changing campus surrounding a hardcore training programs.
In closing paper addresses some meta-questions raised by electronic globalization, democratization of information and de-contextualized information affecting all cultural fields and the creation of new and original work.