Cultural Entanglement

Aleksandra Stevanovic

Cultural entanglement implies mutual correlation and two types of a connection: explicit and transparent, hidden and implicit. Explicit is by its nature self-evident and discernable, while implicit has to be searched for and discovered by removing layers that suppress it. Entanglement is strongly related to cultural identity, and since culture is constant and never-changing because it is related to cult and thus suggests cycles (see entry on “culture”), entanglement cannot disappear or be disregarded. Such idea may be justified by the examples commonly found in artistic production. Cultural entanglement is obvious in the work of expatriate artists and authors since they never truly identify with another culture, but rather stay entangled to their own identity which can be sensed throughout their work. Hence, the artwork is the representation of their culture and thus entanglement must be there. Mona Hatoum, a prominent British artist of Lebanese origin, is a paragon of this because entanglement is very present in her pieces of work, sometimes explicitly, but very often implicitly. Although hidden, cultural entanglement can be found in her artwork when outer layers are removed and the fundamental idea of it remains. In that sense, entanglement can be a positive and liberating one or, quite often, negative and imprisoning one. Positive brings creative force and fosters liberating artwork tracing a positive cultural background, while negative one connects the author’s work with their life in initial cultural environment that has had no joyful events. Such events then transcend the life of an author, even though they are physically away from culture. Such negative entanglement is sometimes stronger than a positive one. Furthermore, it is rather implicit than explicit since authors often try to generate a new identity and cultural entanglement with an acquired environment.

keywords: correlation, Mona Hatoum, culture
genealogy: culture
synonym: identity, connection
antonym: separation, dissipation
hypernym: culture
hyponym: liberation, imprisonment

COST Action IS1307 New Materialism: Networking European Scholarship on 'How Matter Comes to Matter'.

Here you will find background material, current activities, calls for papers, working group information, and project outputs.

With the changing of societies on local, national and international scales owing to economic, ecological, political and technological developments and crises, a reorganized academic landscape can be observed to be emerging. Scholarship strives to become increasingly interdisciplinary in order to grasp and examine the unfolding complexity of ongoing ecological, socio-cultural and politico-economic changes. Additionally, academics forge... Read more or find out Who's Who

News Show More
Activities

Information relating to activities undertaken, including conferences, training schools, short-term scientific missions, and annual meetings, are archived here.

Filter activities by:
Conference7
Other7
STSM7
Training School7

Show More
Working Groups

Working Groups focus on four key areas of research

Working Group One

Genealogies of New Materialisms; examines and intervenes in canonization processes by compiling a web-based bibliography, coordinating the OST 068/13 8 EN... Read more

Working Group Two

New Materialisms on the Crossroads of the Natural and Human Sciences; seeks to develop new materialisms at the boundaries of the human and natural sciences. The group focuses on how European new materialisms can rework the ‘Two Cultures' gap... Read more

Working Group Three

New Materialisms Embracing the Creative Arts; brings together European researchers, artists, museum professionals, and other activists with a keen interest in the material... Read more

Working Group Four

New Materialisms Tackling Economical and Identity – Political Crises and Organizational Experiments... Read more

Auto-bibliography

A space for COST Action members to share reading material and experiences.

Explore entries below or find out how to contribute here

COST Action IS1307

New Materialism —
Networking European Scholarship on 'How matter comes to matter’

COST
An intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology
European Union
COST is supported by the the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020

Website by Second Cousins