1.1 Culture

1. Culture(Theory):

Culture is a particular people at a particular point and place in history. According to Cristina deRossi, an anthropologist, “Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones and a million other things”. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.

Types of Cultures :

• Western Culture (USA, UK, Germany, Russia….) • Far eastern Culture (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam….) • Latin Culture (Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico….) • Middle Eastern Culture (Iran, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia….) • African Culture (Kenya, Nigeria, Congo, Zimbabwe….) • Subcontinental Asian culture(India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh)

Above this, are examples of different countries practicing different types of broader culture. These types of cultures given above are only six examples of many broad classifications and the numerous countries under them. No matter what people are a part of, one thing is for certain, it will change at some point if time. Culture appears to be the key of recognition in our ethnically diverse yet interconnected world. But the sad truth is that culture is also associated with war, religion, ethnical differences and beliefs along with all its fluidity and constant motion.

2. The search and need for study:

The search for this thesis occurred from a series of questions lingering in my mind and leaving me unsettled. So, in all possibilities, this thesis project could also be a way for me to answer those questions. Museums and many cultural centers around the world have become culturally identifying and city recognizing Icons; The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; The Louvre in Paris, France; The Taj Mahal in Agra, India; All this buildings are structures synonymous with the city’s name and likewise, the other way round, and this is for a reason. It is because these structures are of a particular time and resembles a particular parcel of time in history.

The Taj Mahal The Louvre The Guggenheim

3. The need for study:

The need for study comes from the suppression of the Forest tribes of the Siddi people who are collectively identified as outsiders the country of India while they speak the same languages, eat the same food and drink the same water as the rest of us.

The Siddi people are also called as Afro-Indian people who have made India their home for the last 400 years. Also pronounced as Sidi,Siddhi,SheediorHabshi, are an ethnic group inhabitingIndia and Pakistan. Members are descended from the Bantu peoples of Southeast Africa, Some were merchants, sailors, indentured servants, mercenaries and slaves. The Siddi population is estimated at around 270,000 to 350,000 individuals, with Karnataka, Gujarat and Hyderabad in India and Makran and Karachi in Pakistan as the main population centres. Siddis are primarily Muslims, although some areHindus and others belong to the Catholic Church.