Blueprints For A Tank

Language Language , a collaborative exhibition

"Pedro has with him a bag of vegetable fiber that contains some objects he gathered in the milpa, his cornfield. In his shirt pocket door a paper package containing picietl, fresh tobacco - but that is not to smoke tobacco - is instead a kind of amulet that would avert the dangers and Malos vientos. Pedro has a magical mindset and what happens around him may be an omen that you enter in the necessary course of events, and the future for him is nothing but a way of return of the past "... ...

narrated presentation of a course on Mesoamerican two items in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin in the Language Language against project, a collaborative exhibition against Language Language, a collaborative exhibition (CSA, Anna Maria Pecci, 2009).

An unquestionable merit of the project against Language Language was to know how to put an organizational and conceptual in complete continuity with the previous training proposal Subject of Meeting (Anna Maria Pecci). Already in the first project proposal was given the opportunity for mediators to give new meaning to free objects from various museum collections (while respecting their position and scientific interpretation) by evoking memories that they could inspire the participants by placing them in tune with their particular experience. The stories evoked by objects and organized into compelling stories, they had indicated a possible new monological reading through a presentation, conducted by the mediator, in which the object was loaded with different meanings and interpretations, with emotional significance and context in life stories . Language Language against this perspective has passed making it possible for brokers to realize the memories and the memories evoked by objects, in preparations in which the pieces are museum exhibition in the new location specific installations that are in a sort of synopsis, the summary of the story evoked, giving objects a new dimension of interpretation. An interesting aspect of this development project lies in the fact that the construction of meaning has not been limited to an interpretation of objects as intended, however, have an objective meaning, but was given the opportunity to brokers to act where the meaning is produced giving therefore, other meanings to be presented alongside the usual interpretative dimension, in a dialogic perspective and expografica. In this sense, to voice brokers meant "to give them power," or the power of a language that gives meaning and significance in both diachronic, through the story, both in a synchronic, with the creation of an exhibit that invites the public to monitor the exposure without uncritically submit to pre-established meanings.
socioantropologico From the point of view it was interesting to note that some stories have helped to highlight the inconsistency of the approach typical of the cultural reductionism objective cultures in discrete entities and essential, the result of the experience of European historical formation of national states identifying the inhabitants of an area, limited by specific boundaries of those who have the same culture without grasping the differences within these contexts. Contrary to this rhetoric, rather than in the field of mediation, the stories emerge complex realities that are beyond the reductionism and the logic of discontinuity. Culture is not something that we have, but something we do. And probably this aspect of doing, while restricted in the timing of the project, asked the mediators face a new intercultural perspective in which it was developed from the need to produce a shared construction of meanings guided by the presence of a common goal. In this direction, the cross-cultural perspective has manifested itself more than in an obvious reference to the dialogue between cultures (understood as entities with boundaries of objects) in a dimension which focuses on the interpretation of the concept of interculturalism as a constant attitude that train and educate the complexity.

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Can You Buy A Desert Eagle

Tamil Tamil

Tamil [2005]

Who are the Tamil
The presence of Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic group in the Biellese largely due to migration of the population fled from the regions of Sri Lanka since 1983 has become the scene of bloody ethnic war between Sinhalese and Tamil. Since 2002 the Norwegian soldiers working as facilitators of the peace process in those areas.
Rajah, our interlocutors during the course of the project, is chairman of the Tamil section of the Italian Piedmont (an association that has within it a women's division) and has relations with several Tamil associations of other Italian regions: one that is based in Genoa and has about five hundred members and the Reggio Emilia which includes about two hundred . Other Tamil groups are located in Naples, Lecce and Palermo in particular, where it has the largest community. The community of Tamil Pratrivero consists of about sixty families for a total of about two hundred individuals. In Europe, political asylum to house refugees fleeing the war broke out in Sri Lanka was initially granted only by Germany, as a result of its liberal legislation (Although in the Federal Republic of Germany migrants and refugees have always been 'guests' lack of political rights and especially the possibility of obtaining citizenship), who made her European destination exclusive expatriation of many Tamil people before, in 1993, the German government suppressed the granting of unrestricted right of asylum. Germany then began another diaspora that brought (even illegally) cross the border to Tamil many other European countries heading to France, Switzerland, Italy and Norway, as well as the prime goal always consists of the territories of the former parent native England.
in the Biella area, relations entertained by the community Tamil immigrants with the local population of Pratrivero area, were initially characterized by mutual indifference, only to suffer a sudden escalation in the recent natural disaster that struck the coasts of Sri Lanka. The local political institutions with the help of the local population, were affected by the new arrivals needs of the Sri Lankan people, even launching a public awareness campaign after the devastating event, and promoting a fundraiser for the victims of the tsunami, triggered by then initiatives of international cooperation. Since then all Tamil initiatives have become more visible and among them also those related to the political struggle that is being conducted diligently for the recognition of an autonomous Tamil state in the territory of Sri Lanka, ruled today by a government composed of a majority Sinhalese in no way prepared for this grant. It 's interesting to note that in the opinion of Rajah, both the catastrophic tsunami that developments in the war for two decades of ethnic bloodshed has relations with the Sinhalese can even reveal the possible positive effects. Specifically, the diaspora created by the war would have enabled a new and greater international awareness of the values \u200b\u200bof the ethnic Tamil cause and would have also helped to generate substantial wealth through remittances sent home by migrants. The natural disaster combined with resonance global media have given increased sensitivity to the victims and generated, therefore, greater curiosity and closeness with the values \u200b\u200bof ethnic Tamil political struggle.

reasons of a conflict
The civil war that for years the people involved in a Sri Lankan conflict is very hard due to the assertion of the rights of a Tamil minority, about 18% of the population of the island, with the government of the country guarded by absolute majority Sinhalese representatives that together represent the 74% of the population. The conflict in Sri Lanka is usually defined as an ethnic war, or a dispute involving two armed factions divided by deep cultural and historical diversity. The violent clash between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil-Buddhist-Hindu (but also spread the Christian religion and Islam) is traced back to the opposition of ethnic traits that differentiate the two radical people - mainly in relation to language and religion - enough to get to even theorize a clash between an Aryan and a Dravidian population. In fact there are several elements that put into serious question the legitimacy of an ethnic distinction based on real historical legacy.
According to the arguments of Tambiah, Sri Lankan well-known anthropologist, now a professor at Harvard University, the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict in the form that we know it today is a phenomenon of recent manufacture, is perfectly typical of the twentieth century. In the past, before the Portuguese and Dutch rulers of the island, the territory was fragmented into realms where people felt a sense of belonging linked to a complex socio-political identity referents territorial footprint of local or regional, rather than in terms of opposition between Tamil and Sinhalese like it is conceived today. The dynamics of ethnic opposition took place in the context of the nation state was born after obtaining independence from British colonial power. In this context, characterized by severe discriminatory policies, has formed a movement to claim rights based on ethnic grounds. In other parts of the world, has characterized the ethnic mobilization and highlighted the weakness of nation-building policies. In the era of independence the Sinhalese, after years of discriminatory actions against the Tamils \u200b\u200b(who were overly represented in the use and especially in education), although they had reached the correct result of the imbalance in their favor continued with selective policies the outcome of which was to bring the Tamil population to organize a desperate backlash which triggered the most serious disturbances that have been achieved. In retrospect, Tambiah brings the current situation in the successful effort to build a strong national ideology spread among certain segments of the population characterized by a strong Sinhala populism, an uncompromising chauvinism (fanatical nationalism) and a militant Buddhism able to catalyze the current tensions. In short, based on analysis of historical events of the period following the independence of Sri Lanka it can be shown as the current crisis is the result of recent social issues that specifically affect the expansion of education, language policies, unemployment, uses contemporary national and religious ideology, rather than being based on ancient and objective racial and religious differences. As in any ethnic conflict then, it was easier to emphasize the differences between the groups in conflict rather than recognize the traits that they share. While it is therefore true that the major components of identity such as language and religion Buddhist Sinhalese are enforceable (in the dynamics of ethnic claim) to the Tamil language and Hindu religion, it is true that both populations share common traits that range from the traditional system of caste, kinship, popular in the religious rites, the customs, etc.. The two peoples were then divided mainly by their misleading and mythical interpretations of their past, and reasons arising from tensions that have grown in modern socio-historical context.


The Tamil identity and context are extremely proud of their cultural identity so that it is a true object of worship, cared for, protected and celebrated. Being Tamil means first of all be respectful of traditional values \u200b\u200bas well as having a clear consciousness of himself as an individual related to a specific cause of ethnic politics. Here, we will refer to the concept of tradition, not as a tool or category of critical analysis, but rather in its ordinary sense to indicate a body of practices and concepts related to a specific context, especially in the field of migration, lends itself to a strengthening or reification. The Tamils, in context migration, are a real community deterritorialized that rethinks both in relation to the new context and in relation to the homeland. Rajah took us through a journey of considerable interest to discover the activities that the Tamil community organizing on behalf of its young people so that they do not lose the link with their cultural roots. In the field of migration, to a greater extent, the identity must be restored, protected and redefined in relation to the new context in which it is to be inserted. According to Rajah, not to lose the bond with his roots there are cultural elements that must be preserved and cultivated. Three in particular are essential to the cultural referents which refer explicitly to the reconstruction and the transmission of identity: language, dance, and ethnic consciousness.
identity and ethnic ties are maintained through moments of conviviality that include several common events related to the activities of the association, in addition to language schools and dance Bharata Natyam (linked to the artistic and religious) and a drama theater.
Language is the main element that confers the status of belonging to the ethnic community, must be taught to young people and kept alive, but also possibly 'purged from the influences that the British have basically made unclean'.
Bharata Natyam dance is considered an important educational tool of cultural transmission priority. It is the harmonious movement of the primitive re-enactors of creation and is the vehicle of the sacred Hindu text explains and describes the sacred through the gestures, but also the form of spiritual communication, a form of prayer. Curiously, the teacher of dance and Tamil language, a true repository of the collective cultural memory, and the Christian religion is placed next to the icon of Sarasvati, goddess of knowledge and the arts Hindus, who chairs the meetings artistic and educational , a small image of S. Antonio, a witness the broad tolerance of the Hindu vision that may coexist without any uncertainty different kinds of worship. Next to the room designated to the activity of dance is what we might call a real headquarters Tamil identity. There are many elements that characterize a patriotic representation of national identity: November 27th is the date of celebration of the uprising for the conquest of liberty on the walls were painted the faces of the martyrs (Maaveerar) fell for the fatherland and heroic figures emerged during the conflict, the flag, also deftly portrayed in the middle of the wall, depicting a tiger army on a red background, a symbol of the draft constitution of the new nation in which they identify the Tamil Tigers, fighters for the liberation of Tamil Eelam territory. The artist who painted on the walls of the room and the other heroes of the struggle is symbolic references an elderly gentleman who lives in Italy, Norway and England, where her three children live.
traits of ethnocentric identity elements are delineated unmistakably saying "local through global rules.
Despite the explicit attempt isolation of traits considered important and necessary for the structuring and perpetuation of a 'Tamil authentic identity' and its representation in purity, we must consider the appearance of elements of discontinuity, suggested the existence of a new and changing context of reference that requires a relationship with the outside is not always without difficulty.
A widely debated issue, also the subject of a play staged during the celebration for the birth of Tamil women's section of the association, had as its central theme the dynamics of individual-group relations in the field of migration, the need and benefit to the individual to remain tied to traditional values \u200b\u200band community relationships to the network to maintain a lifestyle of ethics, in spite of a migrant background who may instead contain elements of risk for the individual causing it to adopt deviant lifestyles. In this sense, the states sought to show the importance of the community due to its ability to support and reintegrate individuals otherwise in distress. Among the new problems that emerged after the mass emigration from Sri Lanka, there is also the one on the dispute about who has the strongest growth among the Tamils \u200b\u200bback home and those who have chosen to emigrate. This topic has been publicly debated since the theatrical play through the dialectical opposition between two schools of thought, who then found mediation and reconciliation of opposing views, concluding that the islanders can enjoy perhaps more development, but only thanks to remittances and migration to the knowledge arising from experiences abroad. Has established itself in this regard the need to establish a school in the Tamil diaspora united to organize the advanced technical knowledge, acquired by migrants in different countries of emigration, to import and adapt to the needs of local development with Tamil projects.
The importance of local context of the receiving society is also revealed in the comparison between the Tamil community in many European countries and their varying degrees of integration. Norway for example, gives all the headquarters for the association and the tools needed to perform various tasks. No accident that the propaganda and training materials are produced mainly in Germany, Norway, England and Switzerland.
for the new generation, the challenge is open.
Sharmila is a girl just age and the difficulty of openly strictly follow the traditional precepts. Their dual identity experienced during the same day, when at school (he attends a high school Mosso S. Maria) and return to the neighborhood, where she claims to be the real return to Sharmila, is the embodiment of that discomfort typical of the formation of identity synthesis of young migrants. The conflict then becomes uncomfortable, a moment of existential difficulty typical of the combination of modernity-tradition when the traditional value requires such a marriage decided by families and regulated by the caste system. Although his parents have shunned tradition and you are married, regardless of the decisions of their family, Sharmila has not yet sure that her family could understand a decision different from the traditional one. The field of migration changes people, changes the traditional perceptions, changing gender relations even in the face of those who are trying to keep the identity contained by married couples, especially men of Tamil immigrants who tend to prefer women in Sri Lanka adhere to the imagination as a traditional kind of wife. Clearly, women's empowerment (more marked in the field of migration) is reluctantly tolerated by the men who still prefer a traditional dimension of gender relations.
short, it seems that the Tamil community living a real voltage dictated by the development of centrifugal forces that push individuals to abandon their traditional lifestyles, and the permanence of centripetal forces, which led back to individuals to respect the community values which is delegated the protection of their cultural identity.
The religion is intentionally kept at the margin, left to individual sensitivity, since the second Rajah could in the long term, creating friction among the members of the association (in addition to the Tamil community of Pratrivero Hindus are also individuals of the Christian religion).
In spite of the attempt to conceive of identity as mere bodies, static and objective, it inevitably sets out the procedural nature of the representations of identity and living in precarious balance tensions beyond the effort to perpetuate an integral but are the result of a multidimensional and commisto continuous dialogue with the changing socio-historical context, in short, as Clifford has taught, the fruits are to pure crazy.


The Tamil Mirror albeit brief description of some of the dynamics that characterize the representation Tamil identity and play invites us to reflect on the sense of belonging that we feel as more familiar, namely that a national community, which we perceived spontaneously as an objective reality, but in reality can be understood as the result a process of cultural construction, a collective representation that is rooted in the ideology of nationalism.
Giuseppe Mazzini in 1848, thinking about the construction of Italian nationality who defined it as a community of different cultures and traditions, could write: 'Some call the races. Now, the races, between us, where am I '. 'Italy was a conference of all breeds. Here on our land are all gathered in Congress almost as if the peninsula were to oust the epitome of the whole world ... '
The Italians did not exist, it was necessary to create them, train them through a process of cultural homogenization to make them share the same nationalist program.
The nation understood as an imagined community, the definition of Anderson, was made possible mainly by the institution and the spread of the official language at the expense of the national vernacular, mass literacy was the main vehicle for integration of individuals in the same project, while not really know each other, they began to share the same image of the same communities. Not only that, but that image was given a mythical character and eternal thanks to the relationship established with metaphors of a religious or parental leave. According Scarduelli, based on the arguments of Anderson and Gellner, nationalism is a cultural artifact is structurally similar to religion has a god (the country), Saints (the founding fathers, leaders, political leaders), symbols (the flag), rituals, festivals, sacred sites and objects of worship or relics. Borrowing from the sphere
parental figures, the country is also considered a common mother, the leader or political leader who led the independence is the father of his country, his fellow countrymen are frequently represented as brothers (all'autosacrificio willing to guarantee the realization of the nationalist project) in order to emphasize the symbolic relationship of kinship between members of the national community.
In this perspective, nationalism provides a sense of the randomness of the birth of an individual within certain boundaries.
The history of nations has some of the characteristics of a true legend, a myth-history that populates our unexpected social and inform our models self-representation.
The emergence of a post-national political world has also generated new representatives for collective identities, which are now less and less structured on the logical national boundaries, but by freeing them, connect to the wider landscape, with new forms and new languages.
representations of identity, therefore, despite their diversity, they may obey a similar logic and symbolic form factors of integration can always generate new memberships and mark the boundaries between social groups with the same conventional act.

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