Visual Arts, Columbia University, New York

This course examines ways of looking and ways of seeing, both personally & professionally as artists and in a larger cultural context. Through field trips to contemporary art and other cultural sites, conversations with visiting critical thinkers and practicioners, readings, discussions, and visual & written responses, we will examine how we look, think, act, create and respond--critically questioning our own artistic practices and ways of looking at the world.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Cultural Misconceptions


Does this man look dangerous to you?
 
 

 Does this man look dangerous to you?


In the first photo, my friend Zahid is wearing a traditional kamis. This garment is very standard in the Middle East; it is not especially radical or threatening. However, if I showed the first photo to a sampling of random people and asked "Does this man look dangerous to you?" it is not a far stretch to assume that many would answer yes.

What do you think the overwhelmingly unanimous response would be if I asked about the second photo?

It is not easy living in America post 9/11 if you look Middle Eastern. Does an individual have agency in determining how the public reads his character?  Who gets to decide cultural norms?

In allowing biased media to guide our understanding of an individual's character, we fall prey to ignorance.
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