Over 90 omnivorous DePauw students, faculty, and guests became "Cultural Cannibals" at the Intercultural Life Kick-Off event on Tuesday.
Cultural Cannibals is an Indianapolis-based duo of visual artists Artur Silva and DJ Kyle Long. Together they address issues such as consumption in society, mass production, Hollywood, war and violence through their art.
The duo is the first of many monthly speakers that Intercultural Life Office will host.
The office named "Intercultural Life" is new this year. It was adapted from the old name Multicultural and International Life Office.
"We think that [the new name] reflects our students and their identities better," Aliza Frame, coordinator of multicultural student services, said.
The intercultural life office hosted the duo to showcase the cultural blending of the DePauw community.
"I hope the event will help students consider how to be involved and how to express themselves through art and music," Frame said. "It was also an opportunity to have an interesting and fun event."
At the event, Artur Silva gave a presentation in which he explained the background on his life and his home country of Brazil. Silva expressed how he came to be the artist he is today while also showing pictures of his artwork, which mostly consist of large murals. The duo played videos they produced together, showcasing Silva's art with Long's music.
First-year international student from China, Jinlin Zhang enjoyed the event.
"It was cool to see how they express themselves through art," Zhang said.
Besides making art and music, Cultural Cannibals has their own clothing line of t-shirts, which they sold at the event. This line celebrates people who have done great things around the world.
The duo is trying to do their part to make Indianapolis and the surrounding communities a more tolerant society, which is a goal similar to that of the intercultural life office at DePauw.
The intercultural office programming is geared towards supporting international students and underrepresented groups at DePauw. They aim to help these students express themselves and become comfortable in the community. Zhang has utilized the office's services for just that.
"When I came to DePauw, I wasn't good at communicating, and I didn't know the community so [Intercultural Life] took me around DePauw and Greencastle," Zhang said. "They helped me to get to know the other international students and DePauw better. I like the group."
Frame said that the office aims to serve all students, and any speaker or event they host is open to anyone.