Welcome to Polycultural Institute

Polycultural Institute is the digital media arm of Chicago’s Silk Road Cultural Center, dedicated to advancing polyculturalism.

What is Polyculturalism? (not to be mistaken with multiculturalism)

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, 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.

Who Inspired the Idea?

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 that cultures share, not the differences that divide them. They amplified the belief that cultural interchange propels human connectivity and that when people are connected, they work to advance mutual interests.

Why does Polycultural Institute exist?

We promote polyculturalism to expand civic and social connectivity. We know instinctively that diversity is our strength when it brings us together.

What is Silk Road Cultural Center?

Our Mission

Silk Road Cultural Center is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary arts organization rooted in the modern communities of the historic Silk Roads, including our diaspora communities. We embrace the arts as a catalyst for connecting people, places, histories, and futures.

Our Vision

At Silk Road Cultural Center we know that representation matters; it shapes perceptions, informs conversations, and influences policies. In our increasingly diverse American society, we view representation as key to having a “seat at the table.”

Understanding that cultures are inherently linked and not ranked, our artwork explores the intersections of cultures without undermining the specificities of cultures. In striving for a society that values art over ideology and inquiry over dogma, we welcome the complexities and contradictions of our human experiences.

We embrace storytelling in many forms, including theatre, film, digital media, music, dance, literature, visual art, and food. At Silk Road Cultural Center, art is both a crossroads and a destination; a sanctuary for healing ourselves, our communities, and our world.