"Fusion" Art & Culture

Essay by omkCollege, UndergraduateA+, March 2004

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Art presents what the culture of a certain place is. At the same time, culture is reflected on art. Art shows every aspect of a culture, including festivities, traditions, among other. In some way, culture inspires art.

Before addressing these topics, the words art and culture should be defined.

What is art? According to the Encarta Encyclopedia, art is the product of creative human activity, in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an idea, emotion, or visually interesting form. Art comprises a remarkable diversity of styles, movements, and techniques. Art, as a word, can refer to the visual arts, including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, decorative arts, crafts, and other visual works that combine materials or forms. Also, the word art is used in a more general sense, to encompass other forms of creative activity, such as dance and music, or even to describe skill in almost any activity, such as "the art of bread making" or "the art of travel."

What about culture? What is culture? When talking about culture, and referring as in the anthropology world, culture is the patterns of behavior and thinking that people living in social groups learn, create, and share. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals. A people's or a certain place's culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language, rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems. Culture developed together with the evolution of the human species. It has several distinguishing characteristics. It is based on symbols, which are abstract ways of referring to and understanding ideas, objects, feelings, or behaviors; and the ability to communicate with symbols using language. Culture is shared. People in the same society share common behaviors and ways of...