“What Are We” Exhibition
The project is an interactive exhibition about traditional and modern societies. The show is made up of five thematic installations and 3,000-word analysis, focused on the themes of rites of passage, value, conflict, gift-giving, myths, and case studies. Working on this project taught me that cultural identity isn’t to be observed from distance, but deeply woven in our lives.
Rites of Passage
This part is about Rites of Passage and Identity Transformation. It explains anthropologist Arnold van Gennep’s three stages—separation, margin, and aggregation—using examples like Pentecost Island jumpers and Maori rituals. Like snakes shedding skin, individuals symbolically “die” to an old identity and are reborn with a new one through ceremonies.
A snake-shaped timeline, visitors could write their “shedding moments” from throughout their lives.
A scaled-down model of the Naghol ritual with wooden sticks, inviting visitors to simulate the ritual by pushing a
miniature figure off a platform.
Value
This part compares the value of cow in Dinka society versus cars in modern China, exploring how different societies define value.
The centerpiece is a collage of acrylic paintings and photographs, with the comparative content radiating outwards in a mind map format, incorporating text and images.
Gifts and Bonds
This part is about gift-giving and social bonds. It examines why people exchange gifts, using the Kula Ring in Papua New Guinea as an example, where ritual exchanges of necklaces (Soulava) and armbands (Mwali) build connections without practical use
.A figurine, made of clay, cardboard, and acrylic in the colors of the Mwali, reaches forward to give a gift. The gift, linked to its heart, symbolizes it as "an eternal vehicle of significant emotional bonds."
Conflicts & Conflict Resolution
This part analyzes conflict and its resolution, comparing intertribal conflicts and modern warfare across four dimensions: methodology, causation, casualties, and consequences. For resolution, it compares the Dinka peace ceremony with the Treaty of Versailles.
Red threads connect photos on opposite walls, from which four cards—"Methodology, Causation, Casualties, Consequences"—are suspended. The computer placed in the middle presents a more intuitive comparative video.
Two information boards demonstrate the Dinka peace Ceremony and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles respectively.
Myth
This part on mythology introduces four distinct myths and figures from different cultures, comparing their character archetypes and plot structures.
Four myths painted with acrylic paint
The device is made of four transparent plastic panels and a two-way mirror. Four mythological figures are painted on the panels. When visitors stand before it, they see their own reflection through the figures, echoing Campbell's theory.
Case
This part introduces a case from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This book chronicles the case of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, and the cultural clash between her family, who believed her illness was spiritual, and her American doctors, who focused solely on biomedical treatment. Their irreconcilable perspectives and mutual misunderstanding, despite good intentions, led to a breakdown in care with devastating consequences.
The fluttering cloth strips represents the Hmong families' struggle and detachment after being forcibly displaced from their homeland into an unfamiliar cultural landscape.