Art reveals historic cultural exchange

Greco-Roman Egyptian mummy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Throughout history we are aware of cultural exchange via descriptions of foreign culture and through the arts.  This is a particularly easy concept to convey, today, with the extensive globalization that has occurred through trade and technology.  Many folks, for example, are already familiar with the relatively new music genre of reggaeton, a blend of Caribbean (especially Jamaican) dance hall music, Latin American salsa, and Latin hip hop that grew out of American rap traditions.

The past offers many examples of architectural and artistic transmission from one culture to the next, sometimes revealing relations that were otherwise unknown to scholars.  This is, therefore, not a strictly historical area of research, as most examples are of architecture or artifacts–and these examples date back well before the historical record was established, providing revelations into the development of the earliest human cultures before permanent settlements were established.

Another area with copious evidence is in culinary culture.  We also see it in food, today, just as the Italians witnessed it with the introduction of Chinese and other Far Eastern noodles, creating pasta.  (The spice trade has been  longtime indicator of cultural exchange, and the Silk Road has revealed many secrets of cultural development and transmission.  It was along the route that some of the best evidence of the secret cult of the Manicheans was finally revealed, as opposed to the meager evidence within the realm of the Roman Empire where it was founded!)  So, foodways are another legitimate way to pursue this same idea.  (See Colonial Foodways, A delicious learning experience, for example.)

This idea was recently reinforced when I came across a fascinating YouTube video produced by the Museum of Russian Icons in Massachusetts via Twitter.  In it the museum explains with digital animation how a Russian icon is made.  What really makes this interesting is the knowledge that both Russian Orthodoxy and its icons come from Byzantine (or Greek) Orthodoxy.  For that matter, Cyrillic, the written language of Russia and parts of eastern Europe is the likely heir of a written language invented by Byzantine scholars Cyril and Methodious and derived from Greek in the mid-9th century (precise origins of Cyrillic and its inventor/s is under some dispute by scholars, today).

These sorts of cultural exchanges are richly represented in history through artifacts and historical commentary.  It is an inviting and exciting way to study history, especially when one recognizes one culture while studying another.

Music as History Teacher – SAWAE’s Music

SAVAE’s Music – San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble.

I love music.  I like lots of genres–when I say eclectic I don’t mean rap and country; I mean classical baroque, bluegrass, new wave British invasion, blues, most subheadings under rock, R & B, etc.  As is the case with most of my hobbies and interests I love the old stuff, too.  Again, I am not just referring to Mozart, here, because I grew up with him, I mean well before his time, too.  My initial foray into pre-classical music came in the form of a Renaissance Christmas CD my parents purchased.  Not long after that, monks chanting in Gregorian Chant became all the rage!  Then I discovered the hauntingly beautiful music of the Middle East and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon opened the Far East (although, I am still not a big fan of Japanese opera).

Since then, my hobby has continued to expand somewhat haphazardly, aided occasionally by friends, NPR Tiny Desk Concerts and Pandora.  Recently, while looking for resources on a lecture for the Mayan ballgame I stumbled across the group above, SAVAE, short for San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble.  I have not, yet, been able to find much information on their methods or expertise, but much of their work has been directed towards historical reconstructions.  All of their early albums feature the music of Conquest-era New Spain and its fusion with Old World and New World instrumentation and language.  (I just got my first two CDs and think they are amazing on an aesthetic level.)  The idea I think offers some really unique possibilities for historians of the era, particularly in the classroom.

Students are already drawn to music.  I think a great way to use this in class would be to compare what SAVAE has reconstructed with today’s reggaeton a fusion of West-Indian music, such as reggae, and traditional Latin American rhythms and themes, such as salsa and bomba, with contemporary hip hop and electronica.  The result is a fusion, parts of which sound familiar to those acquainted to with any one of the root genres, but nonetheless strange.  This is frequently the case with SAVAE’s Conquest-era reconstructions.  If I had to describe the sounds, I would say they are something loosely like medieval European chant and the music we purchased in Taos, NM visiting the Pueblos.  But, that doesn’t really do it justice.  It would be a great introduction to the subsequent melding and blending of the two cultures in the wake of the Age of Discovery.

There are samples at the website link at the top of the post–check them out!  In addition, they as a group have continued to evolve (apparently, I am late to the game) and their repertoire has grown accordingly.