Arts in the Hearts of Augusta is an annual event that brings together various cultures and gives people the opportunity to showcase their talents. This event was in motion from the 16th-18th of September. This event showcases visual arts of many different forms. It is for the opportunity to engage our body, minds, and soul into art.
Culture shock is when you get “shocked” seeing a different culture and its habits, rituals, or materialistic factors. This would be the same as if someone from across the world came to South Carolina and drank sweet tea when they didn’t even know that was a thing.
Arts in the Hearts of Augusta, two whole streets are filled with foods from Italy, France, Korea, Jamaica, the Philippines, Greece and so many others. An example of this food is a gyro from Greece, which my boyfriend tried, and experienced culture shock from.
There were many booths with talented makings in them. There was this one booth that was filled with oil paintings. They were mainly of animals and natural environments. The man that made them wasn’t there, but his wife was.
She got him on the phone, and he told me some information about him and his work. He said, “My name is Jim Zhang. I was born in China, and I studied/trained in China, Japan, and Germany, developing in [the] U.S. My passion is painting since I was 6 years old. I am a creative and prolific artist in various styles from impressionistic, to contemporary, from landscape to wildlife, anything I see, like, and feel, I paint and draw them.”
Zhang states that “I have images in my mind since I have traveled a lot, and lived [in] many places like China, Japan, Germany, France, and [the] U.S. From the influence around the world, I like to express my artwork by combining my Asian artistic techniques with the western expression way in different media that whichever helps my presentation.”
Zhang’s paintings are collected by art lovers, corporations, and museums all over the world. They win awards, as well as popularity.
At the end of one of the streets, there were tiny booths and tables set up for kids and people who were just starting to expand their art. It was very open, and was a great experience for kids to get their ideas in the world.
Arts in the Heart of Augusta is a festival worth spending time at. This festival brings together cultures, as well as introducing people to cultures they did not know existed or did not think of love. It opens opportunities for people all over the world to spread their love for their culture and to profit from what they love.
Image borrowed from theaugustapress.com