A recent editorial in the NY Times opined that Culture has come to a standstill.
As long as there are ways to view art, play instruments, take classes, educate our youth, engage our elders and become involved with creative mediums, HAVarts will work to optimize these opportunities.
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Why Culture Has Come to a Standstill
from a NY Times article written by Jason Farago –
We are now almost a quarter of the way through what looks likely to go down in history as the least innovative, least transformative, least pioneering century for culture since the invention of the printing press.
There is new content, of course, so much content, and there are new themes; there are new methods of production and distribution, more diverse creators and more global audiences; there is more singing in hip-hop and more sampling on pop tracks; there are TV detectives with smartphones and lovers facing rising seas.
Twenty-three years in, though, shockingly few works of art in any medium — some albums, a handful of novels and artworks and barely any plays or poems — have been created that are unassimilable to the cultural and critical standards that audiences accepted in 1999. To pay attention to culture in 2023 is to be belted into some glacially slow Ferris wheel, cycling through remakes and pastiches with nowhere to go but around.
The suspicion gnaws at me (does it gnaw at you?) that we live in a time and place whose culture seems likely to be forgotten.
Down at the baseline where cultural innovation used to happen, in the forms that artists once put together to show us something new — in the sounds of the recording studio, the shapes on the canvas, the movements of the dancers, the arrangements of the verse — something has stopped, or at least slowed to such a lethargic pace as to feel stopped.
Such a claim may sound familiar if you were around for the postmodernism debates of the 1980s. The philosopher Arthur Danto averred that art ended with Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes, while the literary critic Fredric Jameson declared in 1984 that the whole of modernity was “spent and exhausted,” that there was no more style, indeed no more self, and that “the producers of culture have nowhere to turn but to the past: the imitation of dead styles.”
As for the influence of digital media, as early as 1989 the cultural theorist Paul Virilio identified a “polar inertia” — a static pileup of images and words with no particular place to go — as the inevitable endpoint for culture on a “weightless planet” constituted of ones and zeros.
Read the full article at web.archive.org
Revitalizing Culture
from an article in the Washington Indpendent written by Jaya Mckeown –
In the ever-evolving tapestry of human existence, culture has traditionally been a dynamic force, constantly reshaping itself in response to the changing winds of time.
Yet, in recent years, there is a prevailing sense that culture, in various facets, has come to a standstill. This stagnation, like a cultural inertia, prompts a reflection on the myriad factors that contribute to this perceived stillness.
Culture is a dynamic force that fuels innovation and creativity. It is the crucible in which new ideas, art forms, and expressions are forged.
In the age of technological dominance, the challenge of revitalizing culture amid the deluge of digital advancements is a pertinent concern. Balancing the benefits of technology with the preservation of cultural diversity requires deliberate strategies and thoughtful interventions.
Ways to Revitalize Culture in the Face of Technological Overload
Promoting Digital Literacy – Enhancing digital literacy is crucial for empowering individuals and communities to navigate the digital landscape effectively. Understanding how to leverage technology for cultural preservation and expression is essential.
Workshops and Training Programs – Establishing programs that teach digital skills, including content creation, online storytelling, and digital archiving.
Digital Platforms for Cultural Expression – Embracing digital platforms as spaces for cultural expression allows for the continuation of traditions in a modern context.
Online Exhibitions and Performances – Showcasing traditional arts, performances, and cultural artifacts through virtual platforms accessible to a global audience.
Leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) – Integrating AR and VR technologies into cultural experiences provides immersive opportunities for engagement.
Virtual Museum Tours – Creating virtual tours that allow individuals to explore museums and cultural heritage sites from anywhere in the world.
Collaborative Digital Initiatives – Encouraging collaborative efforts between technology experts and cultural practitioners fosters innovative solutions.
Tech-Cultural Partnerships – Establishing partnerships that bring together technologists and cultural experts to create digital tools and experiences.
Crowdsourced Cultural Preservation – Harnessing the power of crowdsourcing enables a collective effort to preserve cultural heritage.
Digital Archives – Initiating community-driven projects for the digital documentation of cultural practices, oral traditions, and historical narratives.
Read the full article at washingtonindependent.com