Ji is a Chinese pictograph comprised of three symbols: the hand, the meat, and the spirit tablet denoting ceremony. Traditionally ceremony was undertaken in order to attain something; the hand of the priest presents the meat of a human sacrifice to the spirit tablet (a symbol of a god). We propose to use Ji as a metaphor to explore the relationship between interculturalism, the artist and the art.
If we consider ceremonies of interculturalism, we ask the following questions:
- - What is being sacrificed? What is being gained?
- - Are there ethics involved with partaking in ceremonies of interculturalism?
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ReplyDeleteWe would like you to elaborate on your Ji metaphor? How does the American production of Lion King relate to ritual? Wouldn't it be more relevant to the notion of interculturalism?
ReplyDeleteHow do the three parts of the pictograph work together? In what way can we compare this interaction with any threefold model like the one we can apply to art/artist/interculturalism?
Your friendly neighbours from Amsterdam, Group 1
For us, interpreting Ji was already an intercultural experience, and difficulty. We would like to learn more about this symbol in your perspective, in its relation to artistic process. We have a corean among us who made it easier, but for the rest it was kind of hard; interesting though.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS
ReplyDelete"Ji" can be defined as "ceremony" in English, but the reason why we chose "Ji" not "ceremony" is because "Ji" is composed by 3 symbols (hand, meat and spirit tablet), which give a specific framework to the notion of ceremony. We are seeking to use the notion of “Ji” to gain a certain perspective on interculturalism - we hope it can provide us with a means to investigate and interpret our engagement with this phenomenon.
Traditionally the ceremony that the term “Ji” refers to functions in the following way:
The ceremony functions as a triangle - there is a god and there is a community and mediating the relationship between these two parties is the priest.
Ceremonies are conducted with one of two motivations:
1) To appease a god
2) To gain something for the community
Every time that a ceremony is conducted something is sacrificed in order to gain something else; either to appease a god, or to attain something else.
INTERCULTURALISM through the lens of “Ji”
We take the functionality of “Ji” as a ceremony and using this framework we seek to better understand the processes active within interculturalism, and our personal and collective relationships to it.
Using The Lion King as an example:
What would serve as the 'meat' in the so called ceremony or processes of interculturalism involved with The Lion King?
The Meat - The Lion King is inspired and built around African cultures and African nature, and also recognized as critique on certain African political systems. We question whether certain aspects of African authenticity and context are sacrificed through the processes or ceremonies of creating this intercultural artwork. The Priest in this case is the artist and the god (the spirit tablet) is interculturalism.
Questions of ethics, responsibility, gain and sacrifice arise from this – for all parties involved. It is the investigation described above that we as a group are currently engaged with, and warmly invite you to participate.
Warwick Group 3