Heidi Maribut

While borders might be closed, material goods flow freely into our counties, cities, shops and homes. Among these are objects we associate with the foreign; souvenirs, food, plants and other goods that can be seen as constructed symbols of a collective identity of the other. Some of these representations are more, and some less widely endorsed, some are completely accepted and integrated as part of our own culture, some are pure nonsense while others reveal actual cultural overlaps. They are all around us and we feel strangely familiar with them. The objects may appear to be benign visual representations, but often contain a implicit tendency to stereotype foreign cultures by either romanticising the exotic or by defining the ‘other’ through reference to a problem status. Both approaches feed into a discourse of difference which reifies the ‘us’ and ‘them’ distinction. It is these notions of difference and belonging that I am interested in and how that raises questions about the power of media, categorisation, multiculturalism, global consumerism, inherent collective perceptions and local displacement.

BBC as in BRITISH BONE CHINA

BBC as in BRITISH BORN CHINESE

BBC as in BRITISH BROTHERS by CHOICE

BBC as in BREEDING of BRITISH CULTURE

BBC as in BEST of BRITISH COMEDY

BBC as in BRINGING BACK COLONIES

BBC as in BYE BYE CHARITY

BBC as in BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

or BBC as in BITCHES BE CRAZY

Georgia: Well chin chin to your mother.