Video Art In Between: The Foreigner

Date
2021-09-22
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Abstract

Identity, a cultural construct that describes individuals, nations, and continents, is a concept so difficult to frame yet distinctively undeniable at the same time. In the contemporary world, phenomena such as globalization have driven a great flow of human displacement. We could say that today, we live in a migrant world, making most of the world a sort of diaspora. People who live between different cultures and speak other languages have become the norm rather than an anomaly in this contemporary moment. The migrant artist brings a cultural past that redefines its creative narrative. As one adapts to new languages, climates, quirks, and traditions, confrontations can lead to an identity crisis. Indeed, this can be a traumatic experience that can eventually reconstruct a new identity. Cuba, a country divided in two, a culture fragmented between the diaspora dispersed throughout the world and the people who still live on the island. Cuban culture is elusive, distorted by tourism, economic limitations, the U.S. embargo, political dissent, and many other social factors. These factors only define a country from one side of the coin; much like reading a book halfway through, it results in a poor and inadequate judgment about artistic practice and identity. Informed and motivated by my encounters as a Cuban artist living in the diaspora, this research-creation project involves collecting and reconstructing migrant experiences through video as a form of art and an artistic statement of dislocation and shifting identities.

Description
Keywords
Migration / Cultural identity / Diaspora / Cultural Translation / videoart
Citation
Chang Aguilar, Y. (2021). Video Art In Between: The Foreigner (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.