Event 3: May 31, 2019
Fowler Museum at UCLA

Today I went and visited the Fowler Museum of Cultural History to see artifacts and sights of other cultures. As I walked in, I saw things from Guatamalan masks, to art pieces across the world. One of the things I want to discuss in particular was the African culture and how they portrayed it as a visual art through video. 


The exhibition of 'Inheritance: Recent Video Art from Africa' was one that featured video works by African artsits who contend with inherited political, social, and environmental realities in their respective countries. One of the sights I saw of this visual/video art was a woman, who seemed somewhat uncomfortable or uneasy. This was a visual of only one of the chapters they portrayed. She was sitting in a bed, and it was difficult to figure out what exactly was going on and perhaps what her story is, what she was feeling, what she was thinking about, and so on. 


In another part of this video art by Saro-Wiwa, there was a room, with white walls, and multiple rows of TVs with a person eating food, depicting different cultures food, as well as their "Table Manners". The TVs were set upon a table with a stool below it, and if you were to sit down, it was almost as if you were sitting with them and eating the same meal that they were. This art focuses on environmental degradation and promotes healing through the act of eating the local foods. 


Coming to this museum, although depicted through video was just enough to open my eyes and learn about another culture and see all the distintions between theirs and ours. I find it very imporant to learn about other cultures in several ways, as people will understand more and be able to learn more about the world. I recommend this event, as it is interesting and eye opening in a different way than we would usually think of, and you would learn in part about another culture!












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