WHY
“Culture also has its titles of nobility—awarded by […] its pedigrees, measured by seniority in admission to the nobility”
PIERRE BORDIEU - DISTINCTION - 1984
Culture is a difficult thing to confront- it is often perceived as a scattering of random, often disconnected points, when it is more akin to a spectrum where various points are picked out more often than others on the spectrum. In this global world, people often find culture is a heterogeneous combination, rather than one singular culture.
Seeing the obsession with singular 'pedigree' culture and the barring of mixed cultures from places like museums and institutions makes me angry, because this propagates consistent exclusion, and makes people feel that their mixed cultural identity isn't worthwhile, or that it's strange / abnormal / weird- when it's actually something so unique and special and worth of representation.
I hope not to make drastic changes within the layman’s perception of culture, but rather engage people in memorable, ongoing dialogue that perhaps enhances their understanding of something that permeates everyday life, without being patronizing. Culture isn't just a defined set of ideals- it's more like an evolving, amorphous blob!
HANG ON! ISN'T THIS JUST MULTICULTURALISM?
Good question! There’s a subtle difference between Frankenculture and multiculturalism. Multiculturalism implies that the multiple cultures are all comfortably encompassed in one cultural identity or group- whilst franken-cultures are more likely to take on bits of various cultures to create their own personal cultural identity, and not necessarily all or the majority of one culture