For 12 years I and my colleagues use the goodwill spirit of the festive Christmas season to organise an event that celebrates the cultures of the staff/students of the Data Science Institute at the University of Galway where their families and friends are invited.
This year we had exhibits populated with the images, cuisine, beverages(non-alcoholic) and traditional dress representing Africa, Australia, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, USA, Pakistan and Turkey.
In a time of increased incidents of military conflict, genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism, forced migration, economic disparity, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather incidents caused by global climate change, it is important that we highlight and celebrate the benign cultural attributes of the populations of the world. We should not fear differences but instead recognise that variety is after all the spice of life. Hence we should recognise that humanity can and does blossom by having multiple religions, dress, music, art, skin tone and societies. For life would be so boring if we all looked the same, acted the same, dressed the same, cooked the same food…
Furthermore, we not only had festive music and a jolly Santa Claus bearing gifts for the young (& not so young!) but also prizes for the best cheeses (at a special cheese stand), best cultural outfits and stand as well as a beautiful Chinese folk dance known as the ‘Dance of the Peacock’ performed by our colleague Huan Chen.
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