*** Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive *** ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [Date]: Tue, 05 Oct 1999 16:40:57 +0200 [From]: Gerhard Haupt [To]: Cultural Exchange via Internet [Subject]: Re: [forum1] Territories Hello Raul, and all the others, Many thanks for your comments on the link list of the Forum's website, I will update it again (it is an ongoing process). I didn't understand your email as a critic, rather as a helpful hint. It was the first time at all, that someone draw my attention to broken links. It seems that either the existing list is not often used, or that dead links are indifferently accepted instead of informing the webmaster. This shows how important a collective commitment is needed in the construction and maintenance of such a link collection. However in relation to this, one should not have too high expectations. Up to now there weren't any links sent to me in the proposed model. But maybe the exchange emerging from this point is in itself more important than the actual result ;-) In relation to "Territories": First of all, you have not been "advised" to focus on Africa, Latin American and Asia. The thing is, that it was one of the original proposals of this forum, precisely, to focus on the chances which Internet use can provide the cultural exchange with and between Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. And of course it is meant not only the "geo-political territories", but also the "diasporic" ones. For the production of art and culture it is not relevant, where someone lives, decisive are the personal identifications of the individual, like the way you, Raul, define your work as "produced around (your) identity as a Latino and a Cuban". An excluding cliche-riddened concept of authenticity was topic of some discussions in our forum before, but of course this is still a burning issue. Although this concerns not only the "authentic third world spaces". Naturally, by having an explicit focus on Africa, Asia/Pacific and Latin America there is the risk of remaining within some "eurocentric cultural notions". But one of the concerns of this forum is precisely to discuss the ways in which exclusions and narrow perspectives could be overcome. I find, in art we should talk or ask about a personal authenticity, that means a work of art has to be credible in relation to the artistic concept defined by the artist him/herself. And this concerns all artists in the same way, no matter where they come from, if Norway, Germany, Cuba, South Africa, Poland or wherever else. If an artist puts him/herself in relation to a particular cultural context, this is a personal decision and therefore part of his/her concept. Such a reference is not inevitably provided by one's origin or dependent upon one's current location. Raul Ferrera-Balanquet wrote: "In my case I have been outcast several times from the discussions of Cuban art, especially in Europe and recently in North America because I live outside Cuba." If he was excluded, because he is not living in Cuba, then that was really stupid. Such an attitude would mean in fact, that Wifredo Lam would not count as Cuban artist, because most of the time he lived abroad, and that for instance, the numerous artists who left Cuba during the last 10 years wouldn't belong to it anymore because of their departure. That would be absurd. The Internet could be a useful, to re-unite for example Cuban artists on a common platform, no matter where they are living, making clear their cultural connection. But then, the artists in Cuba itself would be excluded, since there is almost no web access there. I think this is similar for other countries or regions, which raises the question of the cultural diaspora, who live in places with better connectivity to the Internet, becoming representative and speaker for a whole cultural group. Best regards, and saludos cordiales, Gerhard Haupt