Starting Our Intercultural Communication Discovery
by Jeanette Landin, Program Director
The focus of our Study Away trip to Quebec is Intercultural Communication. We started developing a baseline in the United States, and today that included a trip to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MOCA).
The building itself contains a wealth of history unique to New England. Mass MOCA, located in North Adams, Massachusetts, is located in a former textile manufacturing plant that provided fabrics for the Union army in the 19th century, and later an electronics plant (Sprague Electronics) that manufactured high-tech components. This campus of buildings provides amazing natural light for the artwork through glass block, clerestory, and traditional windows.
We saw several types of installations at Mass MOCA. One of the featured artists was Vincent Valdez, who created art highlighting controversial parts of United States’ culture such as the paintings depicting Ku Klux Klan members, the Zoot Suit Riots, and even a refurbished Chevrolet pickup decorated with unique artwork.
Another installation called “Like Magic,” set in a mostly darkened set of rooms, included work from a wide variety of artists in multiple types of media that included interpretations of music, artist-directed videos, and a series of Iranian post boxes that were lit from within. One installation described the Jockey Syndrome.
We enjoyed setting this basis in contemporary American culture as we prepare to embark upon our journey to Quebec next Wednesday. We definitely enjoyed the break from the heat of a July afternoon and the chance to whet our cultural appetites!
