How otherness appears in material culture

by Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan.

written by Tharindi

 Who says you are what nation or what religion? 

Religious beliefs and religious culture play a huge role in society. They do a load of good things like teaching people to behave well and what are goods and what are bads. We also have gatherings where one religious group is having a function. Not just functions but also battles. people use to "other" people because of their religion. 

We all came to this world as little babies who don't know anything. And then as we grow big, our parents give us a name and give their religion and culture to us. And we are trained how they wanted us to be.

From our very childhood, we start to become a particular person in the world. We cut off that  "we are all humans" thought from our minds as kids, and we grow up developing that mindset.  

 Personally, my country is a multi-national country. Throughout history, our country has faced few wars because of the above matter. People who had stayed as friends started to divide because of that. National pride has come above friendship and humanity. They started to destroy one another. All of these starts when people starts to divide the society through various facts. Nationalities and religions are only two of them. 

Before we become a Muslim, Christian, Sinhala, or Tamil, we must be a human first. We have to have humanity first. We have to be trustworthy, friendly, kind, and well-mannered. Only a good man can win this world. Money and power can not do that. We can only fulfill our real-life goals by being true humans. I'm not saying these nationalities and religions are bad. They are really good as they only teach how to be good. It is people who get everything wrong. 

 No matter what are the nationalities we are all humans. We all have the same blood color. We all have the same human needs, so why do we have to keep distance from others, why do we have to fight? There's no reason, right? 

So it is time to move on. And  I'LL CATCH YOU UP AT EVERY PARTY THAT HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR, NO MATTER WHAT THE NATION IS.

So let's build together our happy world.

And have to give my thanks to Prof. Sumathy Sivamohan for teaching us these golden feelings.

      Things of Otherness - Pilot Studies 

     by Tharindi Dilshika

   

          "Things of otherness" became our thing, as we are using that as a context for our design project.

         We were asked to research inside the university using the guides and techniques taught by our lecturers. 

     We gathered up and started interviewing random people we met in our area. and not only interviewing but also many techniques, such as object biography, zines, and collecting memes about the university.

 As we were interviewing, we came across the same situations that our lecturer told us that will be happen. People don't say the exact truth when we ask questions, no matter how friendly we are. And that's totally normal.  

We tried to get their words and attitudes about what otherness feels like to them. Not asking directly, but asking about the things they don't normally do.

And we came up with a lot of pretty interesting facts.

  * We interviewed two women who came to sell some accessory things at the university. As we asked questions, they seemed a little uncomfortable at first because students only go to them to buy stuff. And we asked them two whether they knew each other before they started business together.  They said, "No, we met in business." And after a few questions, we bought some stuff and left, thanking them.

But after a few days, another two friends of mine went and interviewed the same two women, and then they said, "Yes, we are cousins," to the same question.

Why did that happen? Maybe they gained trust after the first interview we did, or the other guys did it very well. 

 And we were able to gather many ideas from people. how people consider some things or groups as othernesses. Even twe are also an otherness to them sometimes, as some security guards and ladies who work in the canteen say, "you are educated kids" always. 

* Observations weren't easy, even though it sounds fun. I selected one guy at the canteen, and he was kind of messy. But at that point, the A E I O U method really helped me out.

        A for activity

        E for environment

        I for interaction

        O for objects

        U for users

This chart really did help me out to make a proper observation map. And didn't miss a single fact, I guess. 

* Zines also give a journaling effect to our research. It is easy to do, and whenever we want to see what we found, these zines can get us to every fact we found.

Overall, researching things of otherness is not only an academic thing for me but also an aid to be closer to the various kinds of people and things.