Sarah Pollack

Today, everything but culture is obsolete.

Art symbolizes human experiences throughout time. Human experiences throughout time shape culture. Art shapes culture. Art is culture.

When culture is displaced, art is displaced. How does it change? How is it altered?

When people are displaced, only a shell remains. Disengaged people and art transition from place to place, but never feel a sense of belonging. Wandering art, looking for a place to be is what we create.

Emphasize where you are and what you make of it. They emphasize where you’ve been and what it has done to you.

When you are forced to leave your home and your cultural references behind and your culture is exploited in a new place, what does it do to you?

By taking traditional icons and symbols of established cultures and making them contemporary, does that convey how power has stolen from the countries that they have exploited?

We are fueled by energy. Engaged by spirits. Spiritual connection to a culture draws us in, asking us to portray its feelings.

The medium is as irrelevant as the artist. The only essential things is the forming of a representation; the formation of a culture’s lack of direction.

Diaspora Art is the name of such a movement. Diaspora stands for a voice. Diaspora stands for communication. Diaspora stands for help. Diaspora is the beacon to any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland.

Culture is our beginning. Culture is our life. Culture is our ending.