Maria Popova maintains a blog called, “Brain Pickings” (http://www.brainpickings.org/) where she shares thought-provoking posts ranging from philosophy to intercultural learning.
One of Maria’s posts was on the artist, Yang Liu and her project, Ost trifft West (East Meets West). Chinese-born and German raised, Liu has a unique perspective of the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and Ost trifft West very clearly displays key cultural differences between China and Germany with minimal words and simple but insightful illustrations.
For example, Germans tend to be very punctual, whereas Chinese are generally a little more flexible. Liu illustrates this cultural difference through the image to the left.
Similarly, the image to the right from the Ost trifft West project demonstrates the cultural difference between China and Germany when people gather to form a queue.
And this image from her project attempts to illustrate the culturally acceptable level of noise in a German restaurant versus a Chinese restaurant.
Liu’s work is part of the ever-increasing interest in and importance of intercultural learning. AFS, like Liu, is continually seeking new ways to provide intercultural learning opportunities to its diverse audiences.
As an American born Chinese who has lived in both the United States and Hong Kong, I agree with many of the images illustrated by Yang Liu from a humorous standpoint. However, from a culturally sensitive perspective, I find these images to be stereotypical. Liu’s portrayal of Eastern and Western cultures are straightforward and leave no freedom for individuality or differentiation between the wide variety of cultures, which may exist in the East or the West. Liu’s images are a generalized depiction of the two cultures, which would be suitable for someone who is looking to acquire a broad overview of the two cultures or for someone who has less understanding of the difference between the two. Thus, artwork like this needs to be appreciated by someone with an open mind and a good sense of humor.