Living Traditions Festival

I went to the Living Traditions Festival in downtown Salt Lake this previous Sunday. There were plenty of things going on to stimulate you visually, like the lacework. When I watched the woman working it seemed like she chose random strings of lace to twist around pins and other pieces of lace, but she knew what she was doing. This sort of thing became less profitable after the industrial revolutions, but maybe that's for the best. Although things weren't being created by artisans, at least more people could afford them. 

I thought these flowers were so vibrant. They are made from paper and come from Mexico. I've never thought about how ruffling paper in just the right way could make it look so realistic. I like to fold origami, but with that medium the emphasis is more on minimalism than realism. They had some folded cranes for sale in the little market, but seeing as I could have folded some for free I declined to buy any. 

The next booth we checked out was filled with crafts from Peru. Most of the objects here looked to be made of clay but they were much lighter than they should have been. There were tiny boxes that opened to show various biblical scenes. I think the forms were created out of flour and water, but I'm not sure how the miniscule figures were made. No doubt this guy had a steady hand in order to paint the little people inside this box.  

I liked these eggs-quisite creations (I couldn't resist). I don't know exactly where this art comes from because I think the sign only mentioned that it was from Europe. So, white people did it. I think it would have really showed that white people made these if they used the egg white and yolk to make an egg salad sandwich. I love those things. We tried to talk to the woman at this booth but some guy was hogging her time. He kept mentioning a "missionary" special, whatever that means. 

And, here are some carved fruits from the Thai booth. These almost looked like wax and the scent they gave off was delicious. I am in full support of art you can eat, so I enjoyed this booth. They must have done something to the watermelon because I think it would have gotten all goopy if they had just carved without any sort of hardening agent. 

Along with the booths, there were plenty of booths with food from around the world, as well as dancing. Those capoeira dancers were pretty hot. I was kind of confused though because I thought it was a fighting style but they just seemed to be dancing with each other. They could probably kick someone's ass if they wanted to. It was nice to see people learning about other cultures, especially non-white cultures. Exploration is wonderful. 

Movie Review: King of Masks

As of late I've been interested in international movies, so I got King of Masks from Netflix. The premise is that an aging street performer, Wang, tries to find a boy he can teach his secrets to. After he buys an eight-year-old boy on the black market, he discovers that he has in fact "adopted" (using the term loosely) a girl. Wang shuns the girl, named Doggie. But, when Wang is wrongly accused of kidnapping another child the only person who can help is Doggie and a famous actor. 

The main reason I watch foreign films is to gain a vignette into another way of life. From what little I know of Chinese culture I was able to pick out a few strong themes. Filial piety is very important in the movie. Doggie does everything she can to save Wang, despite the fact that he will have nothing to do with her. She does this because he is the only family she knows. 

Also important is the appeal to authority. In several scenes in the movie Wang prays to Buddha asking for a son. Doggie respects Wang and his ability to use his masks. Wang, in turn, respects the famous actor for his ability to entertain spectators so well. And, when Wang is thrown in jail the two characters plead for the police to listen to them. 

That all may have been boring, but here is what I was really thinking about. The main underlying issue in the movie was, um..."foreign" to me. Wang's utter disgust with discovering Doggie is in fact a girl was odd to me. Can't a girl learn just as well as a boy? But, I now think much of the power of the film comes from this discrepancy: although Doggie is not allowed in her society to inherit anything, she still strives to do so. She also fights tooth and nail to save the person she cares about. She acts unlike a girl because she knows that is the only way she can save Wang. In the end, she earns the love and respect of Wang, and they gain from each other's company. 

What I got from the movie was that some things what we consider normal and polite can be maladaptive to life. Both Doggie and the actor consciously broke with tradition in order to protect Wang. They went outside to social norm to do what they thought was necessary. I think when people question everything they think is right they come to the conclusion that some of it isn't right at all. I know that this idea isn't new, but I don't think it is taken far enough. A person will question what they want to do for a living, but not if they really need to make so much money to be happy. Or, a person will recognize that judging someone based on their race is idiotic and yet they will continue to be homophobic. I think we should be willing to question everything, even the things we hold sacred, in order to discover what is really important.