Throughout the several challenges of 2020, many of us find ourselves nostalgic for the cultural events that helped us thrive before the pandemic. Reflecting back on beautiful projects that bring community together helps us stay hopeful as we find ways to creatively stay connected. Among these reflections, I am immediately taken back to a project in 2016 when Mosaic Silicon Valley initiated a cross-cultural collaboration between two very different populations.
“Children are taught racism. Children are taught diversity. They don’t see it; they only see human. Two words: education and exposure. What are children educated about and what are they exposed to?”
At the beginning of 2020, Sangam Arts, through it’s Mosaic Silicon Valley initiative, launched a new program geared toward commissioning artists to create collaborative projects that both embodied and furthered the mission of strengthening multicultural American communities
It was 2016 when Mosaic Silicon Valley invited Indian folkdance artist Srividya Eashwar and Mexcian folklorico artist Arturo Magaña to come up with two minutes of informed, performative collaboration between their cultures. The mission was to bring their audiences together to build a connected community - as diverse in the audience as on stage.
Making The Mosaic – A column that dips into the disparate, diverse palette of our communities to paint inclusively on the vast canvas of the Bay Area by utilizing Heritage Arts.
I think that we’re all on the same page: it’s hard to comprehend how it’s been over half a year of “These Times,” however you personally define them. I’ve personally gone through a myriad of mindsets and emotions ranging from obliviousness, anxiety, and depression, to complacency, determination, and anger. But I’m not writing this today to make my problems yours. Instead, I want to take a moment to chat about creative processes and inspiration during these unprecedented times.
Considering its vast resources and highly educated population, Silicon Valley has surprisingly thin soil when it comes to building and sustaining cultural institutions. That’s never daunted Usha Srinivasan, the co-founder and president of Sangam Arts,
Staying inspired requires energy in the best of times. Doing so while sheltering-in-place, dealing with canceled shows, complete lack of a real audience, and asynchronous, socially distant jam sessions strikes a discordant note in the life of artists and art organizations alike.
America is the land of the free and the home of the brave…the who? While many of us feel we have the right to be here, regardless of where we were born, most of us continue to seek a sense of belonging. Belonging to a home, to a community, to a country. We identify as American. The world sees us as American. So why are some of us challenged, or even threatened, by our very own neighbors: our fellow Americans. If we all have pledged our allegiance to America – our America – then why do some people consider themselves more American than others?
New episode highlights the storytelling abilities of Modern Contemporary, Indian Odissi and Cambodian Classical dance styles SAN JOSE, Calif. – July 8, 2020 – Sangam Arts will host its next episode of Mosaic Connect - The Ancient Contemporary - on Monday, July 13th at 5:30PM PT. The free, online event will feature three pre-recorded performances