Silk Road Cabaret

What is Polycultural Institute?

Polycultural Institute generates art and ideas that promote polyculturalism. We connect people, cultures, and communities.

What is Polyculturalism?

Polyculturalism is the theory that cultures continuously evolve and transform through dynamic interchange. It assumes that cultures are fluid and flexible, not static and fixed, and that as cultures interact with each other, they redefine themselves.

Polyculturalism promotes the understanding that cultural communities — and the multifaceted individuals that comprise them — share challenges and needs that produce alliances and spur coalitional politics.

What is Polyculturalism Synonymous With?


Polyculturalism is largely synonymous with both interculturalism and cultural interchange. It is more intentionally political in that it aims to shape discourse and inspire action.

Why does Polycultural Institute exist?

To promote polyculturalism, expand civic and social connectivity, and challenge tribalism and extreme polarization. We know instinctively that diversity is our strength only if it brings us together.

What is a Think-and-Create Tank?

A traditional think tank is a community of academics and analysts who conduct research and advocate for solutions via public policy recommendations.

A think-and-create tank is a community of artists, scholars, and activists who conduct research and advocate for solutions through artmaking and storytelling.

What is the relationship between Silk Road Cultural Center and Polyculturalism?

Our Silk Road journey was born of multicultural politics, then quickly migrated to polycultural aesthetics — “aesthetics” and “politics” being largely synonymous for us. If our initial impulses were multicultural (creating space for Asian and Middle Eastern American stories), they evolved into decidedly polycultural instincts (exploring connections and possibilities within and between cultures). We traded cultural silos for cultural bridges. “By us, about us, for us” became “by us, about us, for all.”

The Inspiration

The term “polyculturalism” was initially coined by historians Robin D. G. Kelly and Vijay Prashad, and expanded upon in Kelly’s essay “People in Me” (Colorlines Magazine, Winter 1999) and Prashad’s book Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity (Boston: Beacon Press, 2001).

Kelly and Prashad proposed an alternative to multiculturalism that emphasized the commonalities shared between cultures. They amplified the belief that dynamic cultural interchange propels human connectivity, and that when people are connected, they’re more likely to advance mutual interests.

Silk Road Cabaret

What is Polycultural Institute?

Polycultural Institute is the think-and-create tank of Silk Road Rising. Its mission is to generate art and ideas that promote polyculturalism.

What is Polyculturalism?

Polyculturalism is the theory that cultures continuously evolve and transform through dynamic interchange. It assumes that cultures are fluid and flexible, not static and fixed, and that as cultures interact with each other, they redefine themselves.

Polyculturalism promotes the understanding that cultural communities — and the multifaceted individuals that comprise them — share challenges and needs that inevitably produce alliances and spur coalitional politics.

The concept of polyculturalism is largely synonymous with both interculturalism and cultural interchange. It is, however, more intentionally political in that it aims to shape discourse and drive change.

Why does Polycultural Institute exist?

We promote polyculturalism to expand civic and social connectivity. As America’s multiracial democracy continues to be undermined by extreme polarization, we know instinctively that diversity is our strength when it brings us together.
Silk Road Cultural Center is a dba of Gilloury Institute, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization
© 2024 Silk Road Cultural Center
arrow-left