- Confident and Proud -
A New Hybrid Culture
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In the world today, clashes between different cultures and languages have often led to misunderstandings and conflicts. The jocular term “Chinglish” is a side product of different cultures meeting each other, which refers to Chinese people who struggle to master the English language. But we see it as an inspiration for a new hybrid culture.
Artist CHiNGLiSH WANG, having grown up in both the East and the West, has experienced and witnessed cultural differences and integration, and sees Chinglish as a fascinating phenomenon and trend. This has inspired him to create an artform with “CHiNGLiSH” to explore a new cultural meaning.
“Our feelings of being offended often stem from the lack of confidence.”
Maybe it’s due to historical context embedded in our collective consciousness, but whether we realize it or not, we often think Western cultures are superior to our own. Our lack of confidence has led to low self-esteem, which in turn leads to awareness and hypersensitivity to certain cultural symbols. WANG’s experience of growing up between cultures and having experienced the disparity and integration of the East and the West have equipped him with the sensitivity to see the beauty of both cultures.
Rooted in Western education and inspired by his experience of living in both Chinese and Western cultures, he was surprised to find out that due to his limited knowledge of Chinese, he was able to understand Chinese characters through their pictorial qualities.
“CHiNGLiSH” is a series of modern characters composed by restructuring Chinese characters and incorporating English words with the same meaning, simultaneously conveying the connotations and aesthetics of both cultures. These new modern characters are not only symbols of cultural integration but also an empowering artform that attempts to overturn the negative nuances of the term “Chinglish,” confidently showcasing the cultural lineage of different backgrounds.