April 8th 2008

Main Points

• art IS life.
• Art provides meaning to life.
• Art expresses identity.
• Art connects us ...
• Art is everywhere all around us.

We tried Tuvan Throat Singing
Understanding Tuvan Throat Singing requires
Interpretive Approach: seeking the meaning of another culture's art & symbols, requires rich body of ethnographic knowledge

Inuit Throat Singing (girls in each other's throats)
Inuit Song-Dueling is like 8-Mile Rap Battles in Detroit

Saami Joiking - Individualism / Pastoralism

Kanak of New Caledonia - Participant Music

Australian - Didjeridoo - Songlines and the Dreamtime
Songs actually work like maps guiding through a sacred landscape, connecting them with the dreamtime and their distant ancestors.

Navaho Sand Paintings (see Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpainting)

These examples illustrate how integrated art is with life throughout the world. The moment you recognize that art is life, you become the artisan of your own life - you recognize your own freedom to create your life as you want it to be.

We ended by looking at examples of:
Syncretism: merging previously separate traditions