01/04/2016
CULTURES WITHOUT WALLS ALONG THE GREAT SILK ROAD
“Cultures Without Walls along the Great Silk Road” is a registered non-profit organization developed for the purpose of increasing awareness of the cultural heritage of Central Asia within the United States through community outreach programs, intercultural exchanges, and establishment and facilitation of contacts between Central Asian cultural institutions and local communities and educational venues in Southern California. We seek to develop a centralized, efficient, accessible and practicable intercultural exchange resource for scholars, educators, artists, and community members in both in Central Asia and the United States. These goals are to be realized through the creation of educational community outreach programs consisting of small-scale traveling exhibits, lectures, and performances located in the Southern California area. Additionally, we will be offering educational travel and exchange support between Central Asia and the United States in the near future.
Cultures Without Walls along the Great Silk Road is dedicated to sharing the cultural repertoire of Central Asia with local communities—the material, spiritual, artistic, and historical aspects of this immensely diverse and multifaceted culture area. In our contemporary world the study of and available information about Central Asian cultures comes primarily from two sources and perspectives: that of academia, which reaches a relatively small, specialized audience, and that of popular mass media, which reaches the largest number of people across all social and economic levels. In recent decades there has been a flowering of interest in Central Asian cultures (the “Silk Road”) in academic circles, with highly positive results in terms of broadening the knowledge base concerning these societies. Universities, research institutes, museums and other specialized establishments have made considerable positive progress in this regard through studies, courses, workshops, publications, conferences and exhibits. The media focus on Central Asia and its people has been narrower in scope, concentrated primarily on world affairs, policy issues, and to a lesser extent, art and culture. We at Cultures Without Walls strive to create and provide an educational “bridge” between these two informational entities. We view Central Asian culture as a product and property of real, living people, with feelings, thoughts, and ideas, and a cultural heritage spanning millennia and who live their daily lives—as do all of us—within the framework of a multifaceted, complex and evolving cultural setting.
