I think every non-western artist has wrestled with this thought at some point, but translating my art to be digestible to a western audience is not a goal I have, not even in my periphery. If people come across my work and relate and enjoy it, that is a great, but not understanding does not mean it lacks anything. I think we all fanatsize of certain American/european milestones as artists (ex. Your work in Times Square, , the Grammys, the Nobels, mark twain, etc) but if art is defined as the manifestation of the conversations between the artist and their inner world. It would be doing a disservice to my soul if I felt that the only way for it to be valued is that it needs to be transferable to the western experience and psyche. To me, that is to say to myself, “your experiences are not enough.” Growing up in the west I had to intentionally let go of this desire as an artist, and any POC needs to be aware of the degree in which they are engaging in this image of a successful artist, as the Eurocentric way of thinking is very overpowering. We are also are not doing the western world a favour by continuing to fuel this Eurocentric belief system, it is robbing them of the chance to explore this earth and the stories within it. I love this video of Ousmane Sembéne, when he said “I myself am the sun”
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