What is Cultural Identity

I believe that cultural identity is the way we identify ourselves with a certain community. Our culture is something created, over time, by the people of our community in the past and still evolving in the present with each new expression and creation. Culture is, essentially, what our community values- language, art, music, philosophy, agriculture, science, religion, cuisine and many other things are important to a community and therefore become part of the cultural identity of it’s people.

For an example, I have chosen a musical performance by Rimpa Shiv- a young Tabla player. I find this video interesting because it clearly represents an evolution in Rimpa’s culture partially due to her own identity. As you can tell from the music, technique and instrument alone, Rimpa is from India. Her playing style and Tabla drums, made of metal, wood and calf skin, are unique to northern India and their sound is distinct to Hindustani music. Otherwise Rimpa’s video is quite revolutionary. Rimpa is one of the first women to pursue a performing career on the Tablas, a musical path traditionally only taken by men. She has also chosen this path at a younger age then most- performing publicly at the age of nine with a talent comparable to most nineteen year olds (Chhibber). In this video, her clothing is a mixture of both traditional Indian and Western styles and her hair is cut short. Rimpa represents a new, more modern, cultural identity based on her own experience and expression of the Indian tradition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-pIH0rRzPM&mode=related&search=

Chhibber, Kavita. http://nripulse.com/Archives/ReflectionsFeb16.htm