Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 51

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
political and artistic action. However, he asked the group to consider where anger and
anxiety have resulted in negative acts and horrific deeds such as rape, murder, and war.
Despite the varied responses, the Fellows’ discussions validated both the presence and
the effects of anger and anxiety in society�and art.
Day 6: Culture Wars
This theme reflects on cultural politics and economics. Culture wars involve clashes of collective
identities across divides that ca be societal, national, or transnational. For artists and cultural
producers, political institutions and economics impact the ways and degrees to which the arts
receive public support and approval. Culture Wars can reflect how art is created in the context
of these political debates.
Reflecting on a performance of Mark Thomas and a guided walk by Edinburgh Art
Festival director Sorcha Carey, the Global Cultural Fellows discussed the idea of
“Culture Wars.”
By Zach Marschall
Culture Wars Film by Guy Gotto (password: aia37)
The Culture Wars group started today’s session with a clip from the film The Gladiator,
specifically the scene in which two warriors fight to the death in the Colosseum for
the amusement of the emperor and cheering masses. “We who are about to die salute
you,” one ill-fated man yells to his ruler.
Then, with the clip finished and the lights turned back on, today’s presenters stood in
front of the assembled Fellows and stated now that you have an idea of the game we’re
about to play ...
The Culture Wars group reconfigured the room’s seating to mock a stadium with two
sets of three chairs in the middle positioned in front of Mikael Löfgren, Manuel Francisco
Viveros, and Solomiya Shpak. They took turns asking a question central to culture
wars politics; the Fellows divided into camps and Abdulkarim Ekzayez and Ariel Stolier
served as “generals” leading representatives from each side to the middle chairs where
50