Port Moresby

«In a methodological short cut, 'art' has become the oppressive Other for cultural studies that allows popular culture to define itself as popular. The empirical basis for this casual division of culture into two is often derived from Pierre Bourdieu's sociological study of the uses of culture, undertaken in 1963 and 1967-68. By analyzing the responses of a 1,200 person sample, Bordieu argued that social class determined how an individual might respond to cultural production. Rather than taste being a highly individual attribute, Bourdieu saw it as a by product of education and access, generating a 'cultural capital' that reinforced and enhanced the economic distinctions of class. His study was an important rejoinder to those who believed that appreciation of 'high' culture was simply a mark of intellectual quality that served to distinguish between the intellectual elites and the masses.

(...)

If we extend the definitions of art beyond the formal realm of the art gallery and museum to include such practices as carnival, quilting, photography and computer-generated media, it quickly becomes obvious that the neat division between 'progressive popular culture' and 'repressive high art' does not hold. The role played by culture of all varieties is too complex and too important to be reduced to such slogans.»

MIRZOEFF, Nicholas. An introduction to Visual Culture. Routledge, London and New York, 2004. Pp. 11-12