Vertical multiculturalism

You have to be the most humourless disco sceptic not to like this Turkish gem:

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Clã – Competência Para Amar:

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Against horizontal multiculturalism – by which we intend a socio-cultural activity oriented towards minorities, or a decorative employment of mainly non-European expressive cultures (Brook, Barba, Mnouchkine), a moussaka which tries to convince us, with a bit of Indian make-up, majestic Japanese costumes and roars of two to three dark-skinned actors, that it is engaging with the rest of the world. But the methods of composition and employment of these piled up sensations/sensationalisms are still intact in their Westernness. In contrast to this – let’s say it calmly – colonial approach, artists of the so-called vertical multiculturalism, working on the transects of different cultures, struggling to break through the simultaneity of different cultural identities with a sort of schizoanalytical approach, are building a unique, innovative art. Such an actor manages to hold, within his mental habitus, multiple different archaic combinations and ways of being while his body emanates the gestic essence of modern theatre, which gives a vertiginous dimension to the internal, ritual element. The same can be said for the above-described directorial interventions.

–Gordana Vnuk, Pogled iznutra

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One thought on “Vertical multiculturalism

  1. chiaramente says:

    Hi Jana,

    Long time no comment.

    I thought you might be interested in Open Letter and they work they do. They are a University of Rochester’s publishing house focusing exclusively on the translation of great international authors. They publish twelve books a year at very affordable prices, and are run by a team of young, energetic writers and academics who (thankfully) also understand good design. Open Letter peeps also run an online literary blog called Three Percent which I encourage you to check out along with their impressive catalog. You can subscribe on a 6- or 12-month basis and receive 5 books for as little as $60 (kind of like the McSweeney’s book release club.)

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    http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/

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